Sore — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

adjective noun adverb /ˈsȯr/

Meaning & Definition of Sore

Sore (adjective)

  1. causing emotional pain or distress
  2. physically tender (as from overuse or injury), feeling or affected by pain, achy
  3. attended by difficulties, hardship, or exertion

Sore (noun)

  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)

  1. sorely

Sore (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. causing or feeling bodily pain

    "my legs are sore after that long walk yesterday"

    similar: aching, achy, afflictive, hurting, nasty, painful
    related: agonizing, excruciating, torturous, damaging, deleterious, detrimental, harmful, hurtful, injurious, noxious, pernicious, raw, tender, bleeding, burning, chafing, cramping, festering, itching, nagging, pinching, pricking, prickling, smarting, stinging, inflamed, swollen, grievous, severe, threatening, wounding
    opposite: indolent, painless
    near: curative, healing, helping, remedial

  2. feeling or showing anger

    "promise not to get sore if I tell you what I really think of your new hairstyle?"

    similar: angered, angry, apoplectic, ballistic, cheesed off (chiefly British), choleric, enraged, foaming, fuming, furious, hopping, horn-mad, hot, incensed, indignant, inflamed, infuriate, infuriated, irate, ireful, livid, mad, outraged, rabid, rankled, riled, riley, roiled, shirty (chiefly British), steamed up, steaming, teed off, ticked, wrathful, wroth, bent out of shape, blue in the face, fit to be tied, going crook (Australian & New Zealand), hopping mad, hot under the collar, in a fume, in a huff, in a pet
    related: ranting, raving, stormy, boiling, bristling, bristly, burning, cross, huffy, passionate, seething, sizzling, smoldering, worked up, wrought (up), acrid, acrimonious, antagonistic, antipathetic, bitter, embittered, inimical, malevolent, piqued, rancorous, resentful, spiteful, vengeful, vindictive, virulent, vitriolic, antisocial, cold, cool, disagreeable, disapproving, distant, frigid, icy, ill-tempered, sorehead, sulky, unfriendly, unpleasant, aggravated, annoyed, bearish, bilious, cantankerous, churlish, crabby, cranky, dyspeptic, exasperated, fretful, fussy, grouchy, grumpy, ill-humored, inflammable, irascible, irritable, peevish, perturbed, petulant, put out, quick-tempered, snappish, testy, touchy, argumentative, belligerent, contentious, contrary, disputatious, ornery, pugnacious, quarrelsome, querulous
    opposite: angerless, delighted, pleased
    near: accepting, accommodating, obliging, agreeable, amenable, complaisant, amicable, cordial, friendly, content, happy, satisfied, empathetic, sympathetic, tolerant, understanding, calm, pacific, peaceable, placid, serene, tranquil, unembittered, affable, amiable, easygoing, genial, good-natured, good-tempered, kind, pleasant, sweet

  3. having or showing deep-seated resentment

    "he's been sore ever since she insulted him"

    similar: acrid, acrimonious, bitter, embittered, hard, rancorous, resentful
    related: disaffected, discontented, disgruntled, malcontent, contemptuous, cynical, disdainful, misanthropic, scornful, angry, cruel, harsh, irritated, mad, rough, savage, vehement, vicious, virulent, vitriolic, acid, caustic, cutting, mordant, sarcastic, trenchant, knock-down, drag-out
    opposite: unbitter
    near: caring, forgiving, gentle, kind, kindhearted, loving, sweet, sympathetic, tender, warm, warmhearted

Sore (adverb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. to a great degree

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

    similar: achingly, almighty, archly, awful, awfully, badly, beastly, blisteringly, bone, colossally, corking, cracking, damn, damned, dang, deadly, desperately, eminently, enormously, especially, ever, exceedingly, extra, extremely, fabulously, fantastically, far, fiercely, filthy, frightfully, full, greatly, heavily, highly, hugely, immensely, incredibly, intensely, jolly, majorly, mightily, mighty, monstrous (chiefly dialect), mortally, most, much, particularly, passing, rattling, real, really, right, roaring, roaringly, seriously, severely, so, sorely, spanking, specially, stinking, such, super, supremely, surpassingly, terribly, that, thumping, too, unco, uncommonly, vastly, very, vitally, way, whacking, wicked, wildly, a lot, as all get-out, good and
    related: absolutely, altogether, completely, downright, entirely, flat-out, fully, positively, purely, radically, thoroughly, totally, utterly, wholly, deeply, profoundly, exceptionally, notably, remarkably, considerably, extensively, significantly, substantially, appreciably, discernibly, markedly, noticeably, obviously, palpably, plainly, visibly, abundantly, plentifully, astronomically, grandly, monstrously, monumentally, excessively, obscenely, overmuch, amazingly, astonishingly, staggeringly
    opposite: little, negligibly, nominally, slightly, somewhat
    near: meagerly, scantily, barely, hardly, just, marginally, minimally, scarcely

Sore (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. as in inflammation, swelling

    similar: inflammation, swelling, ache, pain, pang, prick, shoot, smart, sting, stitch, throe, tingle, twinge, discomfort, distress, soreness, tenderness, affliction, agony, anguish, misery, sufferance, suffering, torment, torture, damage, detriment, harm, hurt, injury, backache, bellyache, charley horse, colic, complaint, earache, gripe, headache, stomachache, toothache
    opposite: comfort, ease, easiness

  2. as in wart, welt

    similar: wart, weal, welt, bump, lump, protuberance, blackhead, blister, milium, whitehead, boil, fester, hickey, papule, pimple, pock, pustule, whelk, zit (slang)

Related Entry: Sight (noun)

Sight is a different word from Sore. The synonyms below are for sight, not for sore.

  1. a position within view

    "get out of my sight!"

    similar: company, presence
    related: closeness, contiguity, immediacy, nearness, proximity

  2. an instance of looking especially briefly

    "he always fainted at the merest sight of blood"

    similar: cast, eye, gander, glance, glimpse, look, peek, peep, regard, view
    related: gape, gaze, glare, leer, ogle, stare, side-glance, squinny, squint, coup d'oeil

  3. something unpleasant to look at

    "the frat house was a sight the morning after the party"

    similar: eyesore, fright, hideosity, horror, mess, monstrosity
    related: eye-catcher, blot, smear, smudge, spot, stain
    near: vision

  4. the ability to see

    "lost his sight in an accident when he was young"

    similar: eye, eyesight, vision
    related: myopia, nearsightedness, farsightedness, hypermetropia, hyperopia, presbyopia, aniseikonia, astigmatism, diplopia, squint, strabismus, double vision

  5. a considerable amount

    "this place sure is a good sight better than that last motel"

    similar: abundance, barrel, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, heap, hundred, lashings (chiefly British), loads, lot, mass, mess, mountain, much, multiplicity, myriad, oodles, pack, passel, peck, pile, plateful, plenitude, plentitude, plenty, pot, potful, profusion, quantity, raft, reams, scads, sheaf, shipload, slew, spate, stack, store, ton, truckload, volume, wad, wealth, yard, all kinds (of), quite a bit
    related: epidemic, plague, rash, bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, plethora, redundancy, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus, deluge, flood, overflow, army, bevy, cram, crowd, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, mob, multitude, press, score, sea, swarm, throng, gazillion, jillion, kazillion, million, thousands, trillion, zillion
    opposite: ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen, speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste, touch, trace
    near: atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit, smatter, smattering, dash, drop, morsel, shot, piece, portion, section, absence, dearth, famine, lack, paucity, poverty, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want, deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency, meagerness, scantiness, scantness, skimpiness

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Sore

The most common words with a similar meaning to Sore:

Chiefly British: cheesed off, shirty
Australian & New Zealand: going crook
Chiefly dialect: monstrous
Slang: zit
aching, achy, afflictive, hurting, nasty, painful, angered, angry, apoplectic, ballistic, choleric, enraged, foaming, fuming, furious, hopping, horn-mad, hot, incensed, indignant, inflamed, infuriate, infuriated, irate, ireful, livid, mad, outraged, rabid, rankled, riled, riley, roiled, steamed up, steaming, teed off, ticked, wrathful, wroth, acrid

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Sore

Words with the opposite meaning of Sore:

indolent, painless, angerless, delighted, pleased, unbitter, little, negligibly, nominally, slightly, somewhat, comfort, ease, easiness

Related Words for Sore

agonizing, excruciating, torturous, damaging, deleterious, detrimental, harmful, hurtful, injurious, noxious, pernicious, raw, tender, bleeding, burning, chafing, cramping, festering, itching, nagging, pinching, pricking, prickling, smarting, stinging, swollen, grievous, severe, threatening, wounding

Near Antonyms of Sore

curative, healing, helping, remedial, accepting, accommodating, obliging, agreeable, amenable, complaisant, amicable, cordial, friendly, content, happy, satisfied, empathetic, sympathetic, tolerant, understanding, calm, pacific, peaceable, placid, serene, tranquil, unembittered, affable, amiable, easygoing

Word Forms of Sore

Inflections: sorer, sorest

Derived words: soreness (noun)

Origin & Etymology of Sore

Middle English sor, from Old English sār; akin to Old High German sēr sore and probably to Old Irish saeth distress

First known use: before 12th century

Words & Phrases Containing Sore

sore throat, sore loser, canker sore, cold sore, saddle sore, septic sore throat, sight for sore eyes

Frequently Asked Questions about Sore

What does "Sore" mean?

"Sore" means causing emotional pain or distress. As an an adjective, a noun and an adverb, it is defined as: causing emotional pain or distress. It has 6 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Sore"?

Other words for "Sore" include aching, achy, afflictive, hurting, nasty, painful, angered and angry. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Sore" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Sore"?

There are 365 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Sore". Common alternatives include aching, achy, afflictive, hurting, nasty, painful, angered, angry, apoplectic and ballistic.

What is the opposite of "Sore"?

Antonyms of "Sore" include indolent, painless, angerless, delighted, pleased, unbitter, little and negligibly. Near antonyms include curative, healing, helping and remedial.

How do you use "Sore" in a sentence?

Examples of "Sore" in a sentence: "my legs are sore after that long walk yesterday"; "promise not to get sore if I tell you what I really think of your new hairstyle?"; "he's been sore ever since she insulted him".

Is "Sore" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Sore" can be used as an adjective, a noun and an adverb, depending on the context.

How do you pronounce "Sore"?

"Sore" is pronounced /ˈsȯr/.

What is the origin of the word "Sore"?

"Sore" comes from Middle English sor, from Old English sār; akin to Old High German sēr sore and probably to Old Irish saeth distress. First known use: before 12th century.