rancid
[ran-sid]
- having a rank, unpleasant, stale smell or taste, as through decomposition, especially of fats or oils: rancid butter.
- (of an odor or taste) rank, unpleasant, and stale: a rancid smell.
- offensive or nasty; disagreeable.
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Origin of rancid
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for rancid
Contemporary Examples
You know the cartoon segment that used to be in colour in rancid old newspapers?
The Rancid Ballad of Johnny Rotten: His Memoir Seethes With Anger—And CharmLegs McNeil
November 20, 2014
The workers had to use oxygen tanks to combat the rancid smell of death in temperatures that topped 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
No, this rancid bill of goods is also being by peddled by Fox News personalities.
I will be happy if events prove me too pessimistic, but the political atmosphere in Washington is rancid.
Historical Examples
The rancid smell of bedding struck his sensitive nostrils from within.
In Happy ValleyJohn Fox
The smell of hot, rancid grease struck him like a solid wall.
The Coffin CureAlan Edward Nourse
It smelled as if it had been boiling three weeks in a rancid pot.
The Coffin CureAlan Edward Nourse
A pity that he goes about so unclean, smelling of rancid sanctity!
Luna BenamorVicente Blasco Ibez
It proved to be dried beans and corn cooked with rancid tallow!
rancid
- (of butter, bacon, etc) having an unpleasant stale taste or smell as the result of decomposition
- (of a taste or smell) rank or sour; stale
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin rancidus rank, from rancēre to stink
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for rancid
adj.
1640s, from Latin rancidus "rank, stinking, offensive" (also source of Italian rancido, Spanish rancio), from rancere "be spoiled or rotten," of unknown origin. German ranzig is from French rancide. Related: Rancidness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
rancid
(răn′sĭd)- Having the disagreeable odor or taste of decomposing oils or fats.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.