sort
Americannoun
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sorts
plural
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a particular kind, species, variety, class, or group, distinguished by a common character or nature.
to develop a new sort of painting;
nice people, of course, but not really our sort.
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character, quality, or nature.
young people of a nice sort.
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an example of something that is undistinguished or barely adequate.
He is a sort of poet.
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manner, fashion, or way.
We spoke in this sort for several minutes.
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Printing.
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any of the individual characters making up a font of type.
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characters of a particular font that are rarely used.
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an instance of sorting.
verb (used with object)
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sorts,
present (3rd person singular)
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sorted,
past participle, past
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sorting
present participle
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to arrange according to sort, kind, or class; separate into sorts; classify.
to sort socks;
to sort eggs by grade.
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to separate or take from other sorts or from others (often followed byout ): to sort out the children's socks.
to sort the good from the bad;
to sort out the children's socks.
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to assign to a particular class, group, or place (often followed by with, together, etc.).
to sort people together indiscriminately.
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Scot. to provide with food and shelter.
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Computers. to place (records) in order, as numerical or alphabetical, based on the contents of one or more keys contained in each record.
verb (used without object)
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sorts,
present (3rd person singular)
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sorted,
past participle, past
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sorting
present participle
-
Archaic. to suit; agree; fit.
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British Dialect. to associate, mingle, or be friendly.
verb phrase
idioms
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out of sorts,
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in low spirits; depressed.
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in poor health; indisposed; ill.
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in a bad temper; irritable.
to be out of sorts because of the weather.
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Printing. short of certain characters of a font of type.
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of sorts, Also of a sort
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of a mediocre or poor kind.
a tennis player of sorts.
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of one sort or another; of an indefinite kind.
-
-
sort of, in a way; somewhat; rather.
Their conversation was sort of tiresome.
noun
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a class, group, kind, etc, as distinguished by some common quality or characteristic
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informal type of character, nature, etc
he's a good sort
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a more or less definable or adequate example
it's a sort of review
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(often plural) printing any of the individual characters making up a fount of type
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archaic manner; way
in this sort we struggled home
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to some extent
-
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of an inferior kind
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of an indefinite kind
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not in normal good health, temper, etc
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informal
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(adverb) in some way or other; as it were; rather
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(sentence substitute) used to express reservation or qualified assent
I’m only joking. Sort of
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verb
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(tr) to arrange according to class, type, etc
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(tr) to put (something) into working order
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(tr) to arrange (computer information) by machine in an order convenient to the computer user
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informal to supply, esp with drugs
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archaic (intr; foll by with, together, etc) to associate, as on friendly terms
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archaic (intr) to agree; accord
Usage
See kind 2.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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sorternoun
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subsortnoun
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subsorternoun
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missortverb
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subsortverb
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undersortverb (used with object)
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unsortverb (used with object)
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sortableadjective
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unsortableadjective
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sortablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sortsimple
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sortssimple
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have sortedperfect
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has sortedperfect
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am sortingprogressive
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are sortingprogressive
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is sortingprogressive
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have been sortingperfect progressive
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has been sortingperfect progressive
Past
-
sortedsimple
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had sortedperfect
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was sortingprogressive
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were sortingprogressive
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had been sortingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sort
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English noun, from Middle French sorte, from Medieval Latin sort- (stem of sors ) “kind, allotted status or portion, lot,” Latin: originally, “lot (for voting)”; Middle English verb sorten “to allot, arrange, assort,” from Middle French sortir or directly from Latin sortīrī “to draw lots,” derivative of sors; later senses influenced by the noun and by assort
Explanation
A sort is a type or a kind of something, or the act of categorizing things. If you’re an organized sort of person, sort your clothes by color. If you’re the disorganized sort, just chuck them all over the floor. The noun sort can mean a category or example, or even a type of person, as in "My sister is a generous sort." As a verb, it means "organize, categorize, or resolve" like when you sort your earrings by size or your math teacher helps you sort out what went wrong on the latest test. Sort comes from the Latin sortem, "share or portion" and also "fate or destiny."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I did not know until that point that I needed any sort of readers.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
“Something happened to my house in Malibu, so I’m just sort of living in hotels. So I don’t have the normal trick-or-treaters that I would like to enjoy tonight.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
So even just to get them to sort of endear an animal that usually gives people a sort of like a reaction of like “ugh,” just that alone is a win for me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
Which, by the way, has been sort of my stock in trade for my entire career.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026
When I did, her hand sort of brushed against mine.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
As the only megacap tech company whose future doesn’t hinge on AI, Apple has become a safe haven of sorts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
A North Korean official was quoted as saying the test was conducted "because our armed forces should defend the security of the country and deter all sorts of threats."
From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026
Kloza expects gasoline prices to see a seasonal decline, which may “spark all sorts of conjecture about refiners making too much gasoline when there isn’t demand for it.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
On social media, many people in Generation Z and younger - those under 30 - post extensively about their maxxing efforts to achieve all sorts of perfection.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
The CDO manager, in practice, didn’t do much of anything, which is why all sorts of unlikely people suddenly hoped to become one.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Instacart said the shoppers were assigned to pricing experiments randomly, not sorted by income, demographics or browsing history.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, European officials downplayed the possibility of a major announcement on Canada's new relationship with EU, saying much will be sorted in the coming months.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Here they are, sorted by ascending forward P/E:
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
But the winners and losers still need to be sorted.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
He sorted through the cans and went back and they sat by the fire and ate the last of their crackers and a tin of sausage.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
The Alaska Supreme Court did a decent job, though, of sorting this out.
From Slate ● Oct. 31, 2026
Here’s a cheat sheet for sorting it all out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
I’m sorting through a lot of advice right now.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
“There’s a lot of sorting that’s going to happen,” said GM CEO Mary Barra.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
It's an odd relief to be in my bedroom, sorting papers, while my parents do chores in the next room.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
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