Synonyms for rancid
- adjective
Most common
Definitions
- adj. 1
Rank in taste or smell.
The house was deserted, with a rancid half-eaten meal still on the dinner table.
Related words
- Word family
- rancor
Choose the right word
Malice is direct, pressing toward a result; malignity is deep, lingering, and venomous, tho often impotent to act; rancor (akin to rancid) is cherished malignity that has soured and festered and is virulent and implacable.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- sour Those grapes look sweet, but in fact they're sour.
- stale Ziri discovered that the birdseed had gone stale.
- fetid The fetid smell came from the dead rat in the corner.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| rancid | rising | |
| sour | rising | |
| stale | rising | |
| fetid | rising | |
| malodorous | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- bad1
- 4 letters
- rank1, sour2, olid
- 5 letters
- stale1, musty2, fetid2, fusty2
- 6 letters
- frowzy, reasty
- 7 letters
- tainted2
- 9 letters
- fermented3
- 10 letters
- malodorous
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (sour2 = 2 syllables).