sore

adjective

\ˈsȯr

sorer; sorest

Definition of sore

(Entry 1 of 3)

1a : causing emotional pain or distress a sore subject

b : physically tender (as from overuse or injury) : feeling or affected by pain : achy sore muscles limped on a sore leg felt sore all over

2 : attended by difficulties, hardship, or exertion

3 : angry, irked a sore loser

sore

noun

Definition of sore (Entry 2 of 3)

1 : a localized sore spot on the body especially : one (such as an ulcer) with the tissues ruptured or abraded and usually with infection

2 : a source of pain or vexation : affliction

sore

adverb

Definition of sore (Entry 3 of 3)

: sorely

Other Words from sore Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about sore

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Examples of sore in a Sentence

Adjective

a dog limping on a sore leg The patient has a sore throat. That's a sore subject to bring up. The discussion touched on a sore spot. My neighbor is sore at me. Are you still sore about what happened last night?

Noun

He has a sore on his lip.

Adverb

I was sore afraid we'd never make it home.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

The imbalance has been a sore point with the U.S. and is cited by the Trump administration as a reason for imposing tariffs. — WSJ, "Trump’s Tariffs Have Fully Kicked In—Yet China’s Exports Grow," 8 Nov. 2018 Sanctions could even become a sore point with South Korea. — Matthew Pennington, Fox News, "Some see signs of hope on North Korea as Trump heads to UN," 22 Sep. 2018 Her seven-year-old daughter once complained that her throat was sore from chanting party slogans. — Yanan Wang And Dake Kang, Fox News, "China distances children from families to subdue Muslim west," 20 Sep. 2018 For starters, instead of being left with a hangover the next day, you're left with a really cute (or maybe hysterically misshapen) craft and abs that are sore from laughing so hard. — Danielle Tullo, House Beautiful, "Call All Your Friends, You Need a Wine and Crafts Night," 24 Aug. 2018 Steam’s 30 percent revenue cut has long been a sore spot with publishers, prompting companies like EA and Epic to make their own storefronts. — Hayden Dingman, PCWorld, "Robot Cache, a Steam rival that lets you sell your 'used' games and mine cryptocoins, opens signups," 17 Aug. 2018 The assistant started out as something of a disaster and generally lacks significant advantages over more mature alternatives like the Google Assistant or Amazon's Alexa (which continue to have plenty of sore spots themselves). — Jeff Dunn, Ars Technica, "Samsung’s Galaxy Home is a Bixby-powered smart speaker with legs," 9 Aug. 2018 Cormier — who was released from the hospital a day and half later — is still extremely sore and has a mark on his neck from where the lightning entered his body. — Caitlin Keating, PEOPLE.com, "Girlfriend Saves Her Boyfriend's Life After He Was Struck by Lightning on a Camping Trip," 10 July 2018 Mattingly said Realmuto was really sore and that an extra day off Tuesday was possible should the soreness linger. — Andre C. Fernandez, miamiherald, "Marlins’ 17-year old second-round draft choice signs, shows home run power potential," 25 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The emerald green gowns, gloves, carpets, and wallpaper that came into vogue in Victorian Britain, which appeared extra brilliant thanks to the arsenic in their dye, resulted in scabs, sores, and organ failure. — Eliza Brooke, Vox, "Why cadmium, a metal that can cause kidney and bone damage, is still used in jewelry," 12 Oct. 2018 The virus can be transmitted from oral or skin surfaces that appear normal and show no symptoms, though active sores do pose the greatest risk for transmission. — Michelle Gant, Fox News, "Parents whose newborn babies died from herpes warn about deadly virus," 19 July 2018 Benzocaine is found in popular brands used to treat mouth sores in adults, including Orajel and Anbesol. — Matthew Perrone, USA TODAY, "US officials: Some teething medicines unsafe for children," 23 May 2018 Ash said the horse that was kicked was removed from the reservation and is currently recovering from malnutrition, sores and pneumonia. — Russ Wiles, azcentral, "Incident with horse at Havasupai casts shadow on Arizona tourism," 10 May 2018 Melanie Lustig Dumond said King’s sores have emerged over years of him picking at the area out of anxiety and that the park has tried creams and sprays to alleviate the issue. — Chabeli Herrera, miamiherald, "Monkey Jungle has reopened. Here is what has happened since the animal-abuse allegations.," 12 July 2018 This usually happens through direct contact with the open sores of the rash, the CDC says, pointing out that someone is contagious until their blisters scab over. — Korin Miller, SELF, "Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Migraine' Turned Out to Be Shingles," 6 Apr. 2018 Photos of the newborn show an infant clinging to life covered in a patchwork of skin and sores. — Ashley May, USA TODAY, "Mom bathes 1-year-old son with rare skin disorder in bleach to keep him alive," 21 June 2018 At that point, the agency monitored at least two dozen factors, including how many residents had bed sores or were in serious pain. — Donovan Slack, Usa Today, And Andrea Estes, USA TODAY, "Secret data: Most VA nursing homes have more residents with bed sores, pain, than private facilities," 25 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb

Anybody still sore over New Orleans' minor league baseball team changing its name to the Baby Cakes might enjoy this one. — Christopher Dabe, NOLA.com, "Another name change for Baby Cakes? Yes, but for one night only," 25 Apr. 2018 And the crowd was satisfied, and left that place, sore amazed. — George Saunders, The New Yorker, "Little St. Don," 19 Feb. 2016 Before the game, the Mets placed struggling relief pitcher A.J. Ramos (rotator cuff tendinitis) and infielder Wilmer Flores (sore back) on the disabled list. — James Wagner, New York Times, "Mets Split a Double-Header, Somehow Losing the deGrom Start," 28 May 2018 These made my arm very sore and made some in our company very sick. — Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press, "Service Diary of a Corpsman: Roy L. Wall, LST 509," 28 May 2018 Sardiñas has sore back Infielder Luis Sardiñas, who entered Saturday's 9-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers as a defensive replacement, reported having lower back pain after the game, manager Buck Showalter said. — Jon Meoli, baltimoresun.com, "Orioles notes: Joey Rickard on Norfolk adjustments; Luis Sardiñas dealing with lower back pain," 29 Apr. 2018 But afterward Paul of Tarsus, too, was sore afraid. — WSJ, "In Hoc Anno Domini," 24 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sore.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.