rankle

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rankle

/ˈɹæŋ.kəl/
[ˈɹæŋ.kl̩]
/ˈɹeɪ̯ŋ.kəl/
[ˈɹeɪ̯ŋ.kl̩]
/ˈɹɛ̃ŋ.kəl/
[ˈɹɛ̃ŋ.kl̩]

Rhymes with -æŋkəl

Where it comes from

From Middle English ranklen, ranclen, from Old French rancler, räoncler, draoncler (“to ulcerate, to form a boil”), from Old French draoncle (“a boil”), from Latin dracunculus (“little serpent”), diminutive of Latin dracō (“serpent, dragon”).

verb rankles · rankling · rankled

intransitive, transitive To cause irritation, bitterness or acrimony. My colleague's gratuitous criticism still rankles with me.
Similar: embitter, irritate
intransitive To fester. a splinter rankles in the flesh

noun rankles

rare A festering, embittering object or condition, either mental, or a physical sore or ulcer. To this the Prince appeared to acquiesce; but I saw it did not please, and left a rankle in his mind.

Translations

Every language

verb to cause irritation

Deutsch	verdrießen, wurmen
Русский	терзать terzatʹ, му́чить múčitʹ, раздража́ть razdražátʹ

verb to fester

Deutsch	eitern
Русский	гнои́ться gnoítʹsja

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Cite this

MLA

"rankle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rankle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rankle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rankle

Chicago

"rankle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rankle.

BibTeX

@misc{rankle_2026,
  title = {rankle},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rankle},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}