RANCID
adjective RAN-sid
What It Means
Rancid usually describes something edible that has a strong and unpleasant smell or taste because it is no longer fresh. In figurative use, rancid describes things that are very distasteful or offensive.
// The corpse flower, which is the largest known individual flower of any plant species, stays open five to seven days and emits a rancid odor.
Rancid in Context
“A great oil should smell green, fresh, alive. Give it a sniff before pouring: Even once-vibrant olive oils can start to lose their aroma after a while. If the oil smells bland, it’s best for sautéing, roasting or baking rather than finishing. If it smells rancid (or waxy), toss it.” — Andy Baraghani, The New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
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.”
Merriam Webster Dictionary
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