What does rankle mean?
Word: Rankle
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Rankle means to keep annoying someone or hurting their feelings long after something has happened.
Synonyms: irk
How do you spell rankle?
Syllables: ran - kle
Tricky part: Pupils hear an el sound at the end and write rankel, but the l comes before the e.
Watch out for: rankel, rankal
Memory tip: Twist an ankle and it goes on hurting. A remark that rankles does the same, and both finish in le, not el.
Rankle in a sentence
Example 1: Losing the final by a single point still rankles with our captain.
Example 2: It rankled that nobody had thanked her for arranging the whole trip.
Example 3: His careless comment about my drawing rankled for days.
Fun Fact
This verb has no link with the noun rank, as in the rank of captain. The two come from different French words and simply happen to look alike.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
ranckle
a) k
b) c
c) l
d) n
Show answer
b) c. One letter alone makes the hard sound here, so nothing is needed in front of it.
Word Cookie
One word in this sentence is misspelt. Find it:
The umpire's decision on that ocasion continued to rankle with the visiting team long after the closing ceremony.
a) ocasion
b) rankle
c) decision
d) ceremony
Show answer
a) ocasion. Occasion needs a double c and a single s.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word:
1. rankle 2. gaurdian 3. maintainance 4. occurence
a) the work of keeping things in good repair
b) to go on troubling someone's mind
c) a person who looks after a child
d) something that happens
Show answer
b) to go on troubling someone's mind. Maintenance is not built like maintain, occurrence doubles its r, and guardian puts the u before the a.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word rankle as used in the sentence:
Being left out of the team photo will rankle for a long time.
a) comfort
b) amuse
c) irritate
d) improve
Show answer
c) irritate. Something that irritates goes on bothering you.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which feeling best fits a criticism that rankles?
a) relief that arrives all at once
b) pride that grows day by day
c) joy that lasts a whole evening
d) resentment that refuses to fade
Show answer
d) resentment that refuses to fade
2. A remark that rankles is one that you ____
a) still feel sore about months later
b) write down for later use
c) forget the moment it is made
d) laugh about with friends at once
Show answer
a) still feel sore about months later
