sore
- physically painful or sensitive, as a wound, hurt, or diseased part: a sore arm.
- suffering bodily pain from wounds, bruises, etc., as a person: 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.
- 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.
- a sore spot or place on the body.
- a source or cause of grief, distress, irritation, etc.
- Archaic. sorely.
Origin of sore
Synonyms
See more synonyms for sore on Thesaurus.comExamples from the Web for sore
Contemporary Examples
But for the real Mark Schultz, whom Tatum plays in the film Foxcatcher, it has become a sore point.
Wrestler Mark Schultz Hates the ‘Sickening and Insulting Lies’ of ‘Foxcatcher’Rich Goldstein
December 31, 2014
It's always been the same: Tim Stoddard has a sore arm and they believe him.
Lately, Richard Dawkins seems to scan the world for sore spots, take a good poke, and revel in the ensuing outcry.
After ONE practice session on a wooden horse my arm and legs were sore days later.
“He was probably a bear with a sore head after that,” she cedes.
Historical Examples
The horses are all very tired, and many of them have sore backs.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
To consider these evils, to find their remedy, is the most sore necessity of our times.
Brother Mark of the Spicarium is sore smitten with a fever and could not come.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
Evidently the Street and all that pertained was a sore subject.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
His mind refused to work out the problem; his side was so sore.
ThoroughbredsW. A. Fraser
sore
- (esp of a wound, injury, etc) painfully sensitive; tender
- causing annoyancea sore point
- resentful; irkedhe was sore that nobody believed him
- urgent; pressingin sore need
- (postpositive) grieved; distressed
- causing grief or sorrow
- a painful or sensitive wound, injury, etc
- any cause of distress or vexation
- archaic direly; sorely (now only in such phrases as sore pressed, sore afraid)
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for sore
adj.
Old English sar "painful, grievous, aching, sad, wounding," influenced in meaning by Old Norse sarr "sore, wounded," from Proto-Germanic *saira- "suffering, sick, ill" (cf. Old Frisian sar "painful," Middle Dutch seer, Dutch zeer "sore, ache," Old High German ser "painful," Gothic sair "pain, sorrow, travail"), from PIE root *sai- (1) "suffering" (cf. Old Irish saeth "pain, sickness").
Adverbial use (e.g. sore afraid) is from Old English sare but has mostly died out (replaced by sorely), but remains the main meaning of German cognate sehr "very." Slang meaning "angry, irritated" is first recorded 1738.
n.
Old English sar "bodily pain or injury, wound; sickness, disease; state of pain or suffering," from root of sore (adj.). Now restricted to ulcers, boils, blisters. Cf. Old Saxon ser "pain, wound," Middle Dutch seer, Dutch zeer, Old High German ser, Old Norse sar, Gothic sair.
sore
(sôr)- An open skin lesion, wound, or ulcer.
- Painful to the touch; tender.
Idioms and Phrases with sore
sore
In addition to the idiom beginning with sore
- sore point, a
also see:
- sight for sore eyes
- stick out (like a sore thumb)