MEANING
To continue causing resentment or irritation after the original event.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- rankle for years
- rankle with someone
On the page
The dismissal rankled long after she found better work.
Word forms
- Base
- rankle
- Past tense
- rankled
- Past participle
- rankled
- Present participle
- rankling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- rankle
- Present continuous
- am/is/are rankling
- Present perfect
- have/has rankled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been rankling
- Past
- rankled
- Past continuous
- was/were rankling
- Past perfect
- had rankled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been rankling
- Future
- will rankle
- Future continuous
- will be rankling
- Future perfect
- will have rankled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been rankling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: rankle; rankles; rankled; rankled; rankling Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description, character, dialogue. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: rankles.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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