rancid
adjective
ran·cid
ˈran(t)-səd 
1
: having an unpleasant smell or taste usually from chemical change or decomposition
rancid butter
rancid breath
2
: distinctly unpleasant or distasteful : offensive
a rancid sexual scandal
Without free speech, even in its most rancid forms, we may have nothing to choose at night but old movies and "Heeeeeeeere's Johnny!"—
Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
Did you know?
Rancid and putrid and fetid—oh my! All three words are used to describe unpleasant smells and tastes, and each traces its roots to a "stinky" Latin word: rancid can be traced back to rancēre; the root of putrid shares an ancestor with putēre; and fetid comes from foetēre—all verbs meaning "to stink." Not long after entering the language in the early 17th century, rancid also developed a second, figurative sense which is used for non-gustatory and non-olfactory offenses, as in "rancid hypocrisy."
Examples of rancid in a Sentence
Some foods become rancid quickly.
an unscrupulous food vendor who's as rancid as the meat that he serves
Recent Examples on the Web
Cheese Plate Apizza Gouda Cheese Inedible, with an almost rancid, stomach acid flavor.
—Alex Beggs, Bon Appetit Magazine, 28 Oct. 2025
Charles has visited every continent on Earth, drinking rancid yak butter tea in Lhasa, snorkeling with sea lions in the Galapagos and even climbing an iceberg in Antarctica.
—Charles Q. Choi, Space.com, 22 Oct. 2025
Beans sometimes smelled rancid.
—Lauren Villagran, USA Today, 19 Oct. 2025
Still, the vibes in Buffalo remain rancid.
—Sean Gentille, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rancid
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Alex Beggs, Bon Appetit Magazine, 28 Oct. 2025
Charles has visited every continent on Earth, drinking rancid yak butter tea in Lhasa, snorkeling with sea lions in the Galapagos and even climbing an iceberg in Antarctica.
—Charles Q. Choi, Space.com, 22 Oct. 2025
Beans sometimes smelled rancid.
—Lauren Villagran, USA Today, 19 Oct. 2025
Still, the vibes in Buffalo remain rancid.
—Sean Gentille, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rancid
Cite this Entry
“Rancid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rancid. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Medical Definition
rancid
adjective
ran·cid
ˈran(t)-səd
: having a rank smell or taste usually from chemical change or decomposition
rancid butter
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