sore
Americanadjective
-
sorer,
comparative
-
sorest
superlative
-
physically painful or sensitive, as a wound, hurt, or diseased part.
a sore arm.
- Synonyms:
- tender
-
suffering bodily pain from wounds, bruises, etc..
He is sore because of all that exercise.
-
suffering mental pain; grieved, distressed, or sorrowful.
to be sore at heart.
-
causing great mental pain, distress, or sorrow.
a sore bereavement.
- Synonyms:
- grievous, depressing, painful
-
causing very great suffering, misery, hardship, etc..
sore need.
-
Informal. annoyed; irritated; offended; angered.
He was sore because he had to wait.
-
causing annoyance or irritation.
a sore subject.
noun
-
sores
plural
-
a sore spot or place on the body.
- Synonyms:
- wound, ulcer, abscess, inflammation
-
a source or cause of grief, distress, irritation, etc.
adverb
adjective
-
(esp of a wound, injury, etc) painfully sensitive; tender
-
causing annoyance
a sore point
-
resentful; irked
he was sore that nobody believed him
-
urgent; pressing
in sore need
-
(postpositive) grieved; distressed
-
causing grief or sorrow
noun
-
a painful or sensitive wound, injury, etc
-
any cause of distress or vexation
adverb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of sore
First recorded before 900; Middle English (adjective, noun, and adverb); Old English sār; cognate with Dutch zeer, German sehr, Old Norse sārr
Explanation
A sore is a broken patch of skin — something you might put a bandage on — or it's something that gives you pain, like a sore throat, that’s red and scratchy and painful. You can have a sore and you can also be sore: if you've just ridden your bike over the Alps, you're probably pretty sore — achy and hurting all over. Maybe you've heard phrases like "Don't be sore at me, boss," from old gangster movies, meaning "don't be angry." A sore point or a sore subject is something you don't want to discuss, like the sensitive topic of your last history quiz, the one you slept through.
Vocabulary lists containing sore
Nothing But the Truth
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That Hurts! Synonyms for "Pain"
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"Sympathy" by Paul Laurence Dunbar
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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:
Never mind that this salt-and-pepper-haired coach with the Portuguese accent had also constructed a reputation as a sore loser, a bitter complainer, and raging egomaniac.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
"We have to remove the band-aid and then look at the sore, the gaping wound that's present," Asare says about what he sees as real "reparations".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
“Obviously there was no rail,” a sore but apparently not seriously injured Freeman said after the Dodgers’ 4-2 win against the Royals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
"My skin feels dull and textured and just looks more tired in general, and my chest feels heavier and sore."
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
They yodeled any strange thing as loud as they could, and the next day everyone came to work with sore throats.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
The biotech’s experimental cancer treatment is a genetically engineered version of the Herpes Simplex Virus type 1, the same virus that causes cold sores.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
Because it appears to accelerate repair, SerpinB3 could eventually be developed into a therapy for chronic, hard-to-heal wounds, such as pressure sores and other ulcers that close only very slowly over time.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 17, 2025
BBC analysis of CQC data found one home rated inadequate in 2022 has not been reinspected since, despite the report highlighting residents were at risk of pressure sores, infection, dehydration and exposure to chemicals.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is primarily spread through close, intimate contact, such as through body fluids, sores, shared bedding or shared clothing, as well as kissing, coughing and sneezing, health officials say.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025
Her arms, legs, and face are now pocked with open sores.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
All the time, the shoulder was holding up, but getting sorer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2015
He's a bit sore, even sorer that there's no free-kick, but fine to continue.
From The Guardian ● May 6, 2013
Bradley Beal played 21 minutes but was ineffective, scoring just two points on 0-for-5 shooting as he still recovers from a sorer lower back.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 27, 2012
Calmer and sorer, Stewart picked himself up and headed to the dressing room, perhaps cursing the pitfalls associated with the modern football boot.
From The Guardian ● May 14, 2010
It’s not any sorer than my quads and hamstrings.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Inflation is the sorest point: Consumer prices were 3.5% higher in June than a year earlier, according to the Labor Department, versus a January 2025 inflation rate of 3%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
“Six” was on my docket in March 2020, and missing it when the pandemic shut down Broadway was one of my sorest disappointments in those first few weeks of lockdown.
From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2021
The United States is the biggest loser in raw dollars, but developing countries are the sorest victims, losing 5.8 percent of their total tax revenue rather than the 2.5 percent developed nations miss.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 14, 2021
But in this sorest storm, in this chillest land, there’s hope, the thing with feathers.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2021
My lungs are still burning, my throat raw, and my legs and arms are the sorest they’ve ever been.
From "Hurricane Child" by Kheryn Callender
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
