Did you know?
The Connection Between Rankle and Dragon
When rankle was first used in English, it meant "to fester," and that meaning is related to French words referring to a sore and tracing to Latin dracunculus. The Latin is from draco, the word for a serpent and the source of English's dragon. The transition from serpents to sores is apparently from people associating the appearance of certain ulcers or tumors to small serpents.
Examples of rankle in a Sentence
Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 25 Mar. 2025
But reimagining an old story also means new opportunities to tweak details that may have rankled in the past.
—Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 21 Mar. 2025
Platt’s brash and demanding manner also rankled some of his subordinates, who claimed they were forced out of their positions for being reluctant to cut corners or allegedly lie to the news media at his suggestion in order to burnish the city’s reputations.
—Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 20 Mar. 2025
Driving the news: None have been as daring as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has rankled the Democratic base by hosting a trio of hardline MAGA voices for the first three episodes of his new podcast.
—Zachary Basu, Axios, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rankle
Cite this Entry
“Rankle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rankle. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Middle English ranclen "to fester," from early French rancler (same meaning), derived from earlier draoncle, raoncle "a festering sore," from Latin dracunculus "little serpent, little dragon," from earlier draco "serpent, dragon," from Greek drākon "serpent, dragon" — related to dragon
Share