- if a part of your body is sore, it is painful, and often red, especially because of infection or because a muscle has been used too much
- to have a sore throat
- His feet were sore after the walk.
- My stomach is still sore (= painful) after the operation.
- When I woke up my head was sore and throbbing.
Homophones soar | soresoar sore/sɔː(r)//sɔːr/- soar verb
- Fuel prices are set to soar.
- sore adjective
- My eyes are sore from staring at a screen for too long.
Synonyms painfulpainfulsore ▪ raw ▪ inflamed ▪ excruciating ▪ burning ▪ itchyThese words all describe something that causes you physical pain.painful causing you physical pain. Painful can describe a part of the body, illness, injury, treatment or death: Is your knee still painful? • a series of painful injections • a slow and painful death sore (of a part of the body) painful and often red, especially because of infection or because a muscle has been used too much:see also saddle soreTopics Health problemsb1- a sore throat
- Their feet were sore after hours of walking.
- The skin on her feet had been rubbed raw.
- The wound had become inflamed.
- She felt a burning sensation in her throat.
- an itchy rash
- I feel itchy all over.
- sore/inflamed/itchy eyes
- raw/inflamed/itchy skin
- a painful/an excruciating death
- a painful/burning sensation
- excruciating/burning pain
- [not before noun] sore (at somebody/about something) (especially North American English, informal) upset and angry, especially because you have been treated unfairly synonym annoyed
- He was still sore at me for telling him he couldn't sing.
Word OriginOld English sār (noun and adjective), sāre (adverb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zeer ‘sore’ and German sehr ‘very’.
Idioms
See sore in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee sore in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishlike a bear with a sore head
- in a bad mood; in an angry way
- I should keep out of his way. He’s like a bear with a sore head this morning.
a sight for sore eyes
- (informal) a person or thing that you are pleased to see; something that is very pleasant to look at
a sore point
- a subject that makes you feel angry or upset when it is mentioned
- It's a sore point with Sue's parents that the children have not been baptized yet.
stand/stick out like a sore thumb
- to be very easy to notice in an unpleasant way
- The blue building stood out like a sore thumb among the whitewashed villas.
- If you wear a suit to the party, you’ll stand out like a sore thumb.
Check pronunciation:
sore