rancid
Americanadjective
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having a rank, unpleasant, stale smell or taste, as through decomposition, especially of fats or oils.
rancid butter.
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(of an odor or taste) rank, unpleasant, and stale.
a rancid smell.
-
offensive or nasty; disagreeable.
adjective
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(of butter, bacon, etc) having an unpleasant stale taste or smell as the result of decomposition
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(of a taste or smell) rank or sour; stale
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rancid
1640–50; < Latin rancidus rank, stinking, equivalent to ranc ( ēre ) to be rotten + -idus -id 4
Explanation
Rancid means sour, rotten, and nasty and refers most specifically to the sharp bad smell of decomposing oils or fats. "Rancid" is a great name for a post-punk band, but a lousy way to describe the sauce on your eggs Benedict. If you've never had the pleasure of smelling something rancid, life has quite a wallop in store for you. As meat, fat, or oil decomposes the chemical change creates a sharp wretched stink that will cause you to recoil. It's just foul. The powerful horrendous fragrance of rancid butter, therefore, makes the word wonderfully potent to describe all sorts of things — from a corrupt dictatorship to a party that's gone on a few hours too long.
Vocabulary lists containing rancid
The Cay
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Oh, No! Synonyms for "Bad"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The pop-punk giants, who slayed that very stadium two years ago, will return Sept. 23, 2024, with similarly big-time supporting acts in ’90s alt-rock greats The Smashing Pumpkins and ’90s pop-punk staples Rancid.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 2, 2023
Soon she was learning songs by Rancid and Rage Against the Machine to go with the Bill Monroe tunes she’d absorbed at home.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 3, 2023
A musical omnivore, Tuttle helped herself to rock, punk and rap, including the National, Neko Case and the Bay Area punk bands Operation Ivy and Rancid.
From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2022
Her playfulness as a learner shows in her startlingly original takes on songs by everyone from FKA Twigs to Arthur Russell to Rancid to the Grateful Dead.
From Slate • Dec. 22, 2020
Rancid bacon, is dulness of perception and unsatisfactory states will worry you.
From Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted, or what's in a dream: a scientific and practical exposition by Miller, Gustavus Hindman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
