sort

American  

[sawrt] / sɔrt /

noun

• sorts
  plural

1. 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.

   Synonyms:

   nature, character, rank, order, family, class

2. character, quality, or nature.

   young people of a nice sort.

3. an example of something that is undistinguished or barely adequate.

   He is a sort of poet.

4. manner, fashion, or way.

   We spoke in this sort for several minutes.

5. Printing.

   1. any of the individual characters making up a font of type.

   2. characters of a particular font that are rarely used.

6. an instance of sorting.

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verb (used with object)

• sorts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sorted,
  past participle,  past
• sorting
  present participle

1. to arrange according to sort, kind, or class; separate into sorts; classify.

   to sort socks;

   to sort eggs by grade.

2. 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.

3. to assign to a particular class, group, or place (often followed by with, together, etc.).

   to sort people together indiscriminately.

4. Scot. to provide with food and shelter.

5. 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)

• sorts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sorted,
  past participle,  past
• sorting
  present participle

1. Archaic. to suit; agree; fit.

2. British Dialect. to associate, mingle, or be friendly.

verb phrase

1. sort out

   1. to evolve; develop; turn out.

      We'll just have to wait and see how things sort out.

   2. to put in order; clarify.

      After I sort things out here, I'll be able to concentrate on your problem.

idioms

1. out of sorts,

   1. in low spirits; depressed.

   2. in poor health; indisposed; ill.

   3. in a bad temper; irritable.

      to be out of sorts because of the weather.

   4. Printing. short of certain characters of a font of type.

2. of sorts, Also of a sort

   1. of a mediocre or poor kind.

      a tennis player of sorts.

   2. of one sort or another; of an indefinite kind.

3. sort of, in a way; somewhat; rather.

   Their conversation was sort of tiresome.

sort British  

/ sɔːt /

noun

1. a class, group, kind, etc, as distinguished by some common quality or characteristic

2. informal type of character, nature, etc

   he's a good sort

3. a more or less definable or adequate example

   it's a sort of review

4. (often plural) printing any of the individual characters making up a fount of type

5. archaic manner; way

   in this sort we struggled home

6. to some extent

7. 1. of an inferior kind

   2. of an indefinite kind

8. not in normal good health, temper, etc

9. informal

   1. (adverb) in some way or other; as it were; rather

   2. (sentence substitute) used to express reservation or qualified assent

      I’m only joking. Sort of

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verb

1. (tr) to arrange according to class, type, etc

2. (tr) to put (something) into working order

3. (tr) to arrange (computer information) by machine in an order convenient to the computer user

4. informal to supply, esp with drugs

5. archaic (intr; foll by with, together, etc) to associate, as on friendly terms

6. archaic (intr) to agree; accord

sort More Idioms  

1. see after a fashion (sort); all kinds (sorts) of; bad sort; it takes all sorts; kind (sort) of; nothing of the kind (sort); of sorts; out of sorts.

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Usage

See kind ².

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sorter
  noun
• subsort
  noun
• subsorter
  noun
• missort
  verb
• subsort
  verb
• undersort
  verb (used with object)
• unsort
  verb (used with object)
• sortable
  adjective
• unsortable
  adjective
• sortably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sorts
  plural

Participles

• sorting
  present
• sorted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sort
  simple
• sorts
  simple
• have sorted
  perfect
• has sorted
  perfect
• am sorting
  progressive
• are sorting
  progressive
• is sorting
  progressive
• have been sorting
  perfect progressive
• has been sorting
  perfect progressive

Past

• sorted
  simple
• had sorted
  perfect
• was sorting
  progressive
• were sorting
  progressive
• had been sorting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sort
  simple
• will have sorted
  perfect
• will be sorting
  progressive
• will have been sorting
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

sort sorts sorted sorting

At ThredUp, AI helps sort the millions of pieces of clothing sent into warehouses, helping speed up operations and reduce costs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

I first thought about this sort of doublespeak in an ordinary situation.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

Alice and Jerry, kids just like us, were rivals of a sort to the heroes of the “Dick and Jane” books that many other youngsters once used to parse their first printed words.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

"When it comes to love, I think I am very much more Elinor in every sort of way," she says.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

We were sort of a House of Second Chances.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Second, absent cultural distractions, Midwestern Democrats have earned themselves the running room to make the sorts of cogent economic arguments that draw moderates and progressives together.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

According to GlobalSecurity, a private nonpartisan research organization on defense issues, it’s unlikely Meink was talking about any sorts of “kinetic” weapons—i.e., weapons that unleash bullets or bombs—since the resulting debris could also be self-destructive.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

The secrecy and lack of transparency around McConnell is fueling all sorts of understandable questions.

From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026

The Clippers could offer to take those sorts of players off teams’ hands — if they include future draft assets as sweeteners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

Finally I pulled out my sleeping bag and made a camp of sorts and heated some tea and dozed and drank tea and thought of how it is to be stupid.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

Here’s a look at the sectors’ valuations, sorted by forward price/sales:

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Rodri said earlier this season his future would be sorted out after the tournament, but he is currently out of action after undergoing back surgery.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Copper, tantalum and even the plastic from circuit boards are sorted and sold to specialist recyclers.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

He added: "We just thought it was right to speak out, hopefully the powers-that-be at Travelodge will get this sorted, and save something bad happening in the future."

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

I sorted the new notions and tried to organize a button display.

From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry

These robots should be able to do factory work, like sorting packages, and proponents also envision humanoids helping out with household chores and childcare, among other things.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 5, 2026

Generative AI relies on underlying patterns from existing data to predict and produce new outputs, rather than just copying or sorting existing information.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Look at the internet or railroads, another argued: Each was marked by a wave of euphoria, then the eventual sorting of the winners and losers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

The event features hundreds of teams competing in events such as running and football as well as less sporty challenges like box opening and sorting library books.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

I asked, eager to get that resolved while we were still in the business of sorting things out.

From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk

Related Words

• array
• character
• description
• kind
• lot
• nature
• number
• quality
• set
• style