Make Your Point: RANCOR

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pronounce RANCOR:

RANK ur

connect this word to others:

Our word rancor traces back to a Latin one, rancere, meaning "to rot, to spoil, or to stink."

So does the word ran___, which means "starting to go stale or even decay, and emitting a gross odor that reminds you of fish, paint, metal, or stale nuts." (Ew.) Can you recall that word?

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

A Latin word meaning "to stink" made its way into Old French as rancor, where it came to mean "pain, grief, bitterness, or resentment."

When we borrowed rancor into English, we narrowed the meaning a bit. Today, rancor is a deep, long-lasting, bitter hatred toward some person or group of people.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, the uncountable kind: "They spoke with rancor;" "They could finally live without rancor;" "They shot each other a look filled with rancor."

Other forms:

The adjective is "rancorous," pronounced "RANK uh russ". Hear it.

how to use it:

When you want a serious, formal synonym of "bitterness" and "bad blood," pick "rancor."

You might talk about the rancor between certain people, groups, companies, or countries.

Or, you could point out the rancor in someone's face, voice, or body language.

Or, you could say that someone says or does something with rancor (or without rancor).

And to use the adjective, you could talk about a rancorous face, voice, comment, conversation, debate, relationship, situation, or atmosphere.

examples:

"In the spring he had longed to plant begonias and zinnias in a narrow bed around his tent but had been deterred by his fear of Corporal Whitcomb's rancor."
— Joseph Heller, Catch-22, 1961

Friar Laurence, to Romeo:
"But come, young waverer, come, go with me,
In one respect I'll thy assistant be;
For this alliance may so happy prove,
To turn your households' rancour to pure love."
— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 1597

has this page helped you understand "rancor"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "rancor" without saying "resentment" or "bad blood."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "(Something) generated a great deal of rancor; (some people) are deeply upset about (something)."

Example: "The Barbie movie generated a great deal of rancor; some viewers are deeply upset about its anti-patriarchy message."

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Market That Makeup!"

Check out the names given to the shades in a palette, and decide what to call the shade with the missing name. You might channel the vibe established by the other shade names, or just pick the weirdest or most grandiloquent name you can think of. To see the shade's real name—the one that the marketing team picked—scroll all the way down.

Try this one today:

Makeup Revolution’s "Forever Flawless Allure Palette" includes shades like "nymph," "charisma," "lovesick," and "sweethearts."

Invent a name for the shade on the top row, far left:

(Source)

review this word:

1. Opposites of RANCOROUS include

A. MOIST and HUMID.
B. FRIENDLY and HARMONIOUS.
C. UNITED and EGALITARIAN.

2. Bill Bryson wrote, "You would scarcely guess that these odd and lumbering beasts could cause great rancor... but they did. Perhaps nothing in natural history has been at the center of ______ than the line of ancient beasts known as dinosaurs."

A. more relentless searching
B. more pomp and more exuberance
C. fiercer and more enduring hatreds

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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