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sore

Syllabification: (sore)
Pronunciation: /sôr/

Translate sore | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of sore

adjective

  • (of a part of one’s body) painful or aching:my feet were sore and my head ached
  • [predic.] suffering pain from a part of one’s body:he was sore from the long ride
  • [predic.] informal upset and angry:I didn’t even know they were sore at us
  • [attributive] severe; urgent:we’re in sore need of him

noun

  • a raw or painful place on the body:we had sores on our hands
  • a cause or source of distress or annoyance:there’s no point raking over the past and opening old sores

adverb

archaic
  • extremely; severely:they were sore afraid

Phrases

sore point

a subject or issue about which someone feels distressed or annoyed:the glamorous image of their paramilitary rivals was always a sore point with the police

stand (or stick) out like a sore thumb

be obviously different from the surrounding people or things.

Derivatives

soreness

noun

Origin:

Old English sār (noun and adjective), sāre (adverb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zeer 'sore' and German sehr 'very'. The original sense was 'causing intense pain, grievous', whence the adverbial use

sore in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of sore in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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