sore

[sawr, sohr] /sɔr, soʊr/
adjective, sorer, sorest.
1.
physically painful or sensitive, as a wound, hurt, or diseased part:
a sore arm.
2.
suffering bodily pain from wounds, bruises, etc., as a person:
He is sore because of all that exercise.
3.
suffering mental pain; grieved, distressed, or sorrowful:
to be sore at heart.
4.
causing great mental pain, distress, or sorrow:
a sore bereavement.
5.
causing very great suffering, misery, hardship, etc.:
sore need.
6.
Informal. annoyed; irritated; offended; angered:
He was sore because he had to wait.
7.
causing annoyance or irritation:
a sore subject.
noun
8.
a sore spot or place on the body.
9.
a source or cause of grief, distress, irritation, etc.
adverb
10.
Archaic. sorely.
Origin
before 900; Middle English (adj., noun, and adv.); Old English sār; cognate with Dutch zeer, German sehr, Old Norse sārr
Related forms
soreness, noun
unsore, adjective
unsorely, adverb
unsoreness, noun
Synonyms
1. tender. 3. aggrieved, hurt, pained, vexed. 4. grievous, distressing, painful, depressing. 8. infection, abscess, ulcer, wound.
Examples from the web for sore
  • His arms were getting sore, holding himself over the seat.
  • He had the beginning of a cold sore in the middle of his upper lip.
  • Within a few months, however, he is sore and disillusioned.
  • With an average sortie length for the squadron of about ten hours, the crews put up with sore rumps.
  • Stiff and sore with an ache of remembering that was really a kind of longing, he worked with them until they left the church.
  • Construction remains an open sore, as the real estate market fails to improve.
  • It was sore for several days and so he went to a doc-in-a-box to get an x-ray to see if he'd broken something.
  • It would appear, however, that it works reasonably well for relieving sore throats.
  • His sore back and right hip have been pushed and prodded.
  • Flor said she was sore for a week after that first night.
British Dictionary definitions for sore

sore

/sɔː/
adjective
1.
(esp of a wound, injury, etc) painfully sensitive; tender
2.
causing annoyance: a sore point
3.
resentful; irked: he was sore that nobody believed him
4.
urgent; pressing: in sore need
5.
(postpositive) grieved; distressed
6.
causing grief or sorrow
noun
7.
a painful or sensitive wound, injury, etc
8.
any cause of distress or vexation
adverb
9.
(archaic) direly; sorely (now only in such phrases as sore pressed, sore afraid)
Derived Forms
soreness, noun
Word Origin
Old English sār; related to Old Norse sārr, Old High German sēr, Gothic sair sore, Latin saevus angry
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 in Medicine

sore (sôr)
n.
An open skin lesion, wound, or ulcer. adj.
Painful to the touch; tender.

sore'ness n.
Slang definitions & phrases for sore

sore

adjective

Angry; irritated; pissed off: I was sore (1738+)


Idioms and Phrases with sore

sore

In addition to the idiom beginning with
sore
also see: