What does rancid mean?
Word: Rancid
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Rancid means smelling or tasting bad because oil, butter or another fatty food has gone off.
How do you spell rancid?
Syllables: ran - cid
Tricky part: The 's' sound in the middle is spelt with a c, which is why ransid is the usual mistake.
Watch out for: ransid, ranscid
Memory tip: A rancid smell makes your nose crinkle, and that crinkle begins with the letter you need.
Rancid in a sentence
Example 1: The biscuits had a rancid taste because the butter in them was old.
Example 2: Mother threw out the mustard oil as soon as it smelt rancid.
Example 3: A rancid odour rose from the forgotten lunch box in my school bag.
Fun Fact
Crisp packets are often filled with nitrogen in place of air, because oxygen helps to turn the oil in crisps rancid.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
r_nc_d
a) u, i
b) a, e
c) a, i
d) e, i
Show answer
c) a, i. Say the two beats aloud: the first has the vowel of man, the second the vowel of did.
Mingle-Mangle
Which word do the jumbled letters in the sentence spell?
Keep the tin of ghee sealed, or it may turn drncai in the summer heat.
a) candid
b) acrid
c) rapid
d) rancid
Show answer
d) rancid. Candid needs two d's, acrid has no n, and rapid would need a p.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word rancid as used in the sentence:
A rancid smell came from the jar of old cooking oil at the back of the shelf.
a) sour
b) fresh
c) stale
d) foul
Show answer
b) fresh. Oil that is good to use is fresh; sour, stale and foul all point the same way as rancid.
Spell-o-Spell
Find the one word spelt correctly, then choose its meaning.
1. zelous 2. vociferrous 3. fastideous 4. rancid
a) showing great energy for a cause
b) tasting sharp because the fat has turned
c) very hard to please about small things
d) expressing opinions loudly and forcefully
Show answer
b) tasting sharp because the fat has turned. Vociferous has one r, fastidious has an i before its ending, and zealous has an a, so only the word about spoilt fat stands.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which kitchen item is most likely to turn rancid?
a) a tin of baking soda
b) a jar of white sugar
c) a sealed bag of table salt
d) an old packet of groundnuts
Show answer
d) an old packet of groundnuts
2. What is the best way to slow this change in cooking oil?
a) store it in a cool, dark place
b) leave it open on a sunny sill
c) pour it into a wide shallow dish
d) keep it beside the hot stove
Show answer
a) store it in a cool, dark place
