What does "sore" mean?
An injured, infected, inflamed or diseased patch of skin.
Sore
/sɔː/ adj, adv, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An injured, infected, inflamed or diseased patch of skin.
- Grammar: sore is listed as adj, adv, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abrasion, abrasion, abscess, acerb.
- Useful contrasts: calm, content, forgiving.
- Usage evidence: I have a very sore arm where you hit me.
How to use "sore"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "sore" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "sore" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "sore" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "sore" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "sore" is acting as adj, adv, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abrasion" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "sore", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An injured, infected, inflamed or diseased patch of skin.
"They put ointment and a bandage on the sore."
- 2 A young hawk or falcon in its first year.
"Of the soare faulcon so I learn to fly"
- 3 Acronym of small off-road engine. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
"Rather than banning these engines overnight, the state is rolling out the change gradually. The new rules tighten emissions standards over time, leading up to a ban on the sale of new gas-powered SOREs by 2028."
- 4 an open skin infection wordnet
- 5 Grief; affliction; trouble; difficulty.
"I see plainly where his sore lies."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A young buck in its fourth year.
"Some say a Sore, but not a sore, till now made sore with shooting. The Dogges did yell, put ell to Sore, then Sorell iumps from thicket: Or Pricket-sore, or else Sorell, the people fall a hooting. If Sore be sore, then ell to Sore, makes fiftie sores O sorell: Of one sore I an hundred make by adding but one more L."
Verb
- 1 To mutilate the legs or feet of (a horse) in order to induce a particular gait. transitive
- 2 To grow sores; to be beset with skin lesions. intransitive
Adjective
- 1 Causing pain or discomfort; painfully sensitive.
"Her feet were sore from walking so far."
- 2 Sensitive; tender; easily pained, grieved, or vexed; very susceptible of irritation.
"Malice and hatred are very fretting and vexatious, and apt to make our minds sore and uneasy."
- 3 Dire; distressing.
"The school was in sore need of textbooks, theirs having been ruined in the flood."
- 4 Feeling animosity towards someone; annoyed or angered. informal
"Joe was sore at Bob for beating him at checkers."
- 5 Criminal; wrong; evil. obsolete
"[…]and your water is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body."
Adjective
- 1 roused to anger wordnet
- 2 hurting wordnet
- 3 causing misery or pain or distress wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Very, excessively, extremely (of something bad). archaic, not-comparable
"And they answered Ioshua, and said, Because it was certainely told thy seruants, how that the Lord thy God commanded his seruant Moses to giue you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our liues because of you, and haue done this thing."
- 2 Sorely. not-comparable
"And indeed I blamed myself and sore repented me of having taken compassion on him and continued in this condition, suffering fatigue not to be described, […]"
Example
"I have a very sore arm where you hit me."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "sore"?
Common synonyms include: abrasion, abrasion, abscess, acerb, acerbate, acerbic.
How do you use "sore" in a sentence?
I have a very sore arm where you hit me.
How do you pronounce "sore"?
Pronounced /sɔː/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English sor, from Old English sār (“ache, wound”, noun) and sār (“painful, grievous”, adjective), from Proto-West Germanic *sair, from Proto-Germanic *sairaz (adjective) from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂eyro-, enlargement of *sh₂ey- (“to be fierce, afflict”). See also Dutch zeer (“sore, ache”), Danish sår (“wound”), German sehr (“very”); also Hittite [script needed] (sāwar, “anger”), Welsh hoed (“pain”), Ancient Greek αἱμωδία (haimōdía, “sensation of having teeth on edge”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English sor (“sorrel”), from Old French sor (“sorrel; reddish”). Compare French saur (“(archaic) reddish-brown; describing a young bird of prey”).