1
as in steams
to be excited or emotionally stirred up with anger
that kind of rude treatment from a young person makes me rankle
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in angers
to make angry
it rankles me when some schools can't even afford paper and pencils for the students
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of rankles
Omar’s growing outrage, especially when precious time is lost because of jammed phone lines, troubling silences and false assumptions, rankles Mahdi, the most overstretched of anyone at the call center.
—
Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2025
But he's paired with Travis (Davidson), whose cheery demeanor increasingly rankles until their truck is hijacked and the two have to bond to survive.
—Marco Della Cava, USA Today, 6 Aug. 2025
Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2025
But he's paired with Travis (Davidson), whose cheery demeanor increasingly rankles until their truck is hijacked and the two have to bond to survive.
—Marco Della Cava, USA Today, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rankles
Verb
-
At its heart sits Viti, a striking blue crater lake that steams invitingly in contrast to the stark black landscape.—
David Nikel,
Forbes.com,
16 Aug. 2025
-
CookingPal’s gadget suggests meals, fetches recipes, chops, stirs, and steams ingredients, and then cleans up after itself.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
3 Jan. 2020
Verb
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Silence only angers the other, and exacerbates their criticism and contempt.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
-
Season 2 picks up after Kimmie marries businessman Horace Bellarie, inheriting a new sense of power that angers her in-laws, Netflix said in its release.—
Saleen Martin,
USA Today,
23 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Fire rages through the Singha Durbar, the main administrative building for the Nepal government, in Kathmandu on September 9, 2025 amid widespread protests.—
Alia Shoaib,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
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As war rages in Europe, the two children navigate danger and secrets that challenge their understanding of family and friendship, reshaping their childhoods forever.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Elsewhere, the photo of Cartman is a reference to his reaction of Clyde’s incendiary new podcast that has a right wing theme that infuriates the perpetual instigator.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Their eponymous theme sets the tone with a churning brew of twinkling synths and ritualistic percussion, both of which are eventually subsumed into the supernatural (represented by the theremin) before a crash of guitar boils everything together into chaos.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
20 Aug. 2025
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However, these blemishes are often a skin condition other than acne, such as folliculitis, boils, contact dermatitis, or keratosis pilaris.—
Sherri Gordon,
Health,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
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And whether the Carolina Panthers are just stuck in an endless loop of embarrassment, one that alternately humiliates and enrages their fans.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Sep. 2025
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The episode also takes aim at conservative podcast culture with a storyline involving a fourth grader named Clyde who finds fame as a White nationalist podcaster, which enrages Eric Cartman, who is the show’s resident bigot.—
Lisa Respers France,
CNN Money,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Theirs was a life together cut off in its infancy, but still the flame burns bright.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
8 Sep. 2025
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The spark becomes a blaze, and trust between citizens and the military burns with it.—
Eric Chastain,
Twin Cities,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This annoys his wife, who hankers after Bingley (sight unseen) as a future son-in-law.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rankles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rankles. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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