as in irritating
causing annoyance
for some air travelers, the most rankling aspect of the security measures seems to be the restrictions regarding carry-on baggage
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in raging
to be excited or emotionally stirred up with anger
that kind of rude treatment from a young person makes me rankle
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in angering
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rankling
Adjective
-
The solution proved to be nearly as irritating as the problem.—
Jelani Cobb,
New Yorker,
14 June 2025 -
The most prevalent active ingredients in the videos were not only irritating, but are also known to increase sun sensitivity.—
Wendy Wisner,
Parents,
10 June 2025
Verb
-
Then the truck flipped over, sending the workers into the raging water.—
Travis Loller,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Dec. 2024
-
Here is the list of fighters that gained immortality as a result of this raging inferno.—
Interesting Engineering,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Dec. 2024
Verb
-
The prequel will introduce his family and girlfriend and the events that led up to his victory, notorious for angering the Capitol elite.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA TODAY,
12 Mar. 2025
-
Reports suggest that some Republican lawmakers are frustrated with Musk’s bluster and that the DOGE approach to slashing the federal bureaucracy is angering constituents and making lawmakers less popular in their districts.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Unfortunately, everything else in this misadventure, from annoying love interests to cloying sidekicks, is a minecart going off the rails.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
20 June 2025
-
And the positivity surrounding it is annoying, including my own.—
Kayla Grant,
People.com,
20 June 2025
Adjective
-
What’s more frustrating is that neither of the bracket’s two best overall performers will be proceeding on to the semifinals, and in hindsight, one of them — Acid Betty — really wasn’t given a chance.—
Chris Feil,
Vulture,
27 June 2025
-
The most frustrating character on The Bear continues to be Claire (Molly Gordon), whose on-screen role in Season 3 was limited, but whose importance even as an unseen force has grown and grown.—
Linda Holmes,
NPR,
26 June 2025
Verb
-
The company built a retail and residential complex around the county’s Coconut Grove Metrorail station, and Martin also is pitching an incinerator site in western Miami-Dade as an alternative to the Levine Cava plan to rebuild the trash-burning facility in Doral.—
Douglas Hanks,
Miami Herald,
4 Jan. 2025
-
President Biden awarded the coveted Medal of Valor on Friday to a pair of heroic FDNY firefighters who ignored intense flames and selflessly raced into danger to save desperate New Yorkers who were trapped in burning buildings.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
3 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Content moderators are workers who remove disturbing content from social media—data which is often then used to train AI systems like ChatGPT or Facebook’s algorithms.—
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
19 June 2025
-
These stories reveal a disturbing truth: AI can automate and amplify existing biases, leading to real-world injustice.—
Sajal Singh,
Forbes.com,
17 June 2025
Verb
-
Coursing through all of these elements is a seething anger at authoritarianism.—
Glenn Whipp,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Dec. 2024
-
Cox and his team were brought in by a handful of wealthy Colorado ranch owners who were still seething over the ballot measure to introduce wolves that passed in 2020 by less than one percent.—
Chris Dorsey,
Forbes,
18 Dec. 2024
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Rankling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rankling. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share