rank.

1. Having a strong, offensive smell or taste.

2. Growing luxuriantly or excessively, often with a coarse or unkempt character.

3. A position or level in an ordered hierarchy.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a rank odor
• rank-smelling water

On the page

A rank odor escaped when the inner hatch opened.

The water tasted rank despite its clear appearance.

Usage notes

Primary category: sensory / description. Forms: rank; comparative ranker; superlative rankest for the sensory adjective. Noun singular rank; plural ranks. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: ranks.