rancid

[ran-sid]

adjective

1. having a rank, unpleasant, stale smell or taste, as through decomposition, especially of fats or oils.

   rancid butter.

2. (of an odor or taste) rank, unpleasant, and stale.

   a rancid smell.

3. offensive or nasty; disagreeable.

rancid

/ ˈrænsɪd, rænˈsɪdɪtɪ /

adjective

1. (of butter, bacon, etc) having an unpleasant stale taste or smell as the result of decomposition

2. (of a taste or smell) rank or sour; stale

Other Word Forms

• rancidly adverb
• rancidness noun
• rancidity noun
• unrancid adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rancid¹

1640–50; < Latin rancidus rank, stinking, equivalent to ranc ( ēre ) to be rotten + -idus -id ⁴

Word History and Origins

Origin of rancid¹

C17: from Latin rancidus rank, from rancēre to stink

Example Sentences

With each passing episode, it grows clearer that their profession was chosen to lend a touch of realism to the rancidly malicious, aggressively dimwitted dialogue screamed across long tables.

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But her idiosyncratic policy views are, by design, inseparable from her larger brand as a hair-on-fire nutcase of the most rancid sort.

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Despite his rancid politics, Wagner was a true genius who remains popular nearly 150 years after his death.

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The top of every “WTF” episode is his emotional check-in time, where he sometimes rails against the rancid politics of any moment but usually shares some flash of perceptivity.

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"It's an absolutely rancid, horrible smell, and it just burns your throat," says Pauline Claridge who has lived in this part of Rainham for 15 years.

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Related Words

• contaminated www.thesaurus.com
• disagreeable 
• fetid 
• moldy 
• musty 
• polluted 
• putrid 
• smelly 
• soured www.thesaurus.com
• stale 
• tainted