rancid
Americanadjective
-
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.
adjective
-
(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
Other Word Forms
- rancidity noun
- rancidly adverb
- rancidness noun
- unrancid adjective
Etymology
Origin of rancid
1640–50; < Latin rancidus rank, stinking, equivalent to ranc ( ēre ) to be rotten + -idus -id 4
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.
Harris said in an interview that his four-hour flight was at first forgettable before passengers noticed a “rancid” smell while the aircraft sat waiting for a gate.
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.
From Salon
Despite his rancid politics, Wagner was a true genius who remains popular nearly 150 years after his death.
From Salon
"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.
From BBC
Left too long in that environment, it will eventually turn rancid.
From Salon
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.
