sorely

adverb

sore·​ly ˈsȯr-lē 

1

: in a sore manner : painfully

2

: very, extremely

sorely needed changes

Synonyms of sorely

• sadly
• bitterly
• sorrowfully
• painfully

Examples of sorely in a Sentence

You will be sorely missed.

She provided some sorely needed help.

The house is sorely in need of paint.

He is sorely lacking in social skills.

Recent Examples on the Web

The screenplay, co-written by Balagov with Marina Stepnova, fails to give satisfying development to any of these strands and sorely under-uses the movie’s most interesting character, Zalya. —David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 13 May 2026

The money is sorely needed to jump-start Hungary’s struggling economy, which has stagnated for the past four years. —Justin Spike, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2026

In the artificial intelligence age, industry leaders say the most in-demand and potentially lucrative professions might not be the roles building AI models themselves, but rather the sorely lacking manual labor needed to supply the technology’s massive infrastructure needs. —Tristan Bove, Fortune, 11 May 2026

The money is sorely needed to help jump-start Hungary's struggling economy, which has stagnated for the past four years. —CBS News, 9 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

sorely

adverb

sore·​ly ˈsō(ə)r-lē 

ˈsȯ(ə)r-

: in a sore manner