sore

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sô, IPA^(key): /sɔː/
• (General American) enPR: sôr, IPA^(key): /sɔɹ/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: sōr, IPA^(key): /so(ː)ɹ/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /soə/
• Homophone: soar; saw (in non-rhotic accents)
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)

• Audio (US)

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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”).

sore (comparative sorer, superlative sorest)

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.
   • 1671, John Tillotson, “Sermon IV. The Advantages of Religion to Particular Persons. Psalm XIX. 11.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: […], 8th edition, London: […] T. Goodwin, B[enjamin] Tooke, and J. Pemberton, […]; J. Round […], and J[acob] Tonson] […], published 1720, →OCLC:

     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. (informal) Feeling animosity towards someone; annoyed or angered.

   Joe was sore at Bob for beating him at checkers.

   • 1951, J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 53:

     “God damn it.” He was sore as hell. He was really furious.

   • 2024 May 1, “Network News: Do TfN and the DfT actually respect each other?”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 13:

     TfN is clearly very sore about last year's axing of part of HS2.

5. (obsolete) Criminal; wrong; evil.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     […] and your water is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body.

sore (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Very, excessively, extremely (of something bad).
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joshua 9:24:

     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.

   • 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Elaine”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 174–175:

     But on that day when Lancelot fled the lists, / His party, knights of utmost North and West, / Lords of waste marches, kings of desolate isles, / Came round their great Pendragon, saying to him / 'Lo, Sire, our knight thro' whom we won the day / Hath gone sore wounded, and hath left his prize / Untaken, crying that his prize is death.'

   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The Old Punt: A Curious ‘Turnpike’”, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 19–20:

     Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out.

2. Sorely.
   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night:

     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, […]

   • 1919, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jungle Tales of Tarzan‎:

     [… they] were often sore pressed to follow the trail at all, and at best were so delayed that in the afternoon of the second day, they still had not overhauled the fugitive.

Sores

sore (plural sores)

1. An injured, infected, inflamed or diseased patch of skin.

   They put ointment and a bandage on the sore.

2. Grief; affliction; trouble; difficulty.
   • 1822, [Walter Scott], Peveril of the Peak. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC:

     I see plainly where his sore lies.

sore (third-person singular simple present sores, present participle soring, simple past and past participle sored)

1. (transitive) To mutilate the legs or feet of (a horse) in order to induce a particular gait.

• soring

• blister
• lesion
• ulcer

From Middle English sor (“sorrel”), from Old French sor (“sorrel; reddish”). Compare French saur (“(archaic) reddish-brown; describing a young bird of prey”).

sore (plural sores)

1. A young hawk or falcon in its first year.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, An Hymne of Heavenly Beautie:

     Of the soare faulcon so I learn to fly

2. A young buck in its fourth year.
   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     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.

• 'orse, EROS, Eros, ROEs, Roes, Rose, eros, ores, orse, roes, rose, rosé, sero-, öres

Cognate with Moore sore (“road”)

/só.ré/

sore (plural sɔa)

1. road, way, street

From Latin supra.

sore

1. over
2. above

sore

1. above
2. on top
3. up

• disore
• parsore

Borrowed from Javanese ꦱꦺꦴꦫꦺ (soré, “late afternoon, early evening”), derived from Old Javanese sore (“evening”) from sorai. Compare French soirée.

• IPA^(key): /so.re/
• Hyphenation: so‧re

sore (first-person possessive soreku, second-person possessive soremu, third-person possessive sorenya)

1. the second half of the afternoon; the time of the day from around 3pm until sunset

   Synonym: petang (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore)

• “sore” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

From Latin sōl, sōlem (compare Romanian soare); from Proto-Italic [Term?], from pre-Italic *sh₂wōl, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥. Compare Romanian soare.

sore m (definite singular sorele, plural sori)

1. sun

sore

1. Rōmaji transcription of それ

From Indonesian sore, from Javanese sore, from Old Javanese sore, from sorai. Compare French soirée.

• IPA^(key): /sore/
• Rhymes: -re, -e

sore (Jawi spelling سوري, plural sore-sore, informal 1st possessive soreku, 2nd possessive soremu, 3rd possessive sorenya)

1. (Indonesia) afternoon (part of the day between noon and evening)

   Synonym: petang

• petang / ڤتڠ

• “sore” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

From Old French seür.

sore

1. Alternative form of sure

From Old English sār, from Proto-Germanic *sairą (noun), *sairaz (adjective).

• sar, sor, sær, sære, soor, soore, sarre

• (Early ME, Northern ME) IPA^(key): /sɑːr/
• IPA^(key): /sɔːr/

sore (plural and weak singular sore, comparative sorer, sorrer, superlative sorest)

1. Senses associated with pain:
   1. Harmful; creating or producing pain.
   2. Sore, hurting, injured; currently in pain or wounded or affected by it.
   3. Capable of inducing or creating pain or wounds; rending or dire.
2. Senses associated with anguish:
   1. Harmful; creating or producing anguish, sadness or torment.
   2. Upset, distressed; currently in agony or anguish or affected by it.
3. Challenging, complicated, laborious; requiring a large expenditure of one's energies:
   1. Challenging to deal with on the battlefield; violent, intense, mighty.
   2. Challenging to deal with; inducing great anguish.
4. (Used with words relating to pain, soreness, or anguish) Very, strongly, bad, grievously.
5. Malicious, iniquitous, malign; not morally or spiritually in the right.

• sorely
• sorhed
• sornesse
• sory

• English: sore
• Scots: sair, sare

• “sōr(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-08.

sore (plural sores)

1. The condition of bodily painfulness or hurting.
2. A condition of anguish or affliction of the thought; injury of the mind:
   1. An issue or difficulty, especially one that causes great distress or evil.
   2. Regret; remorsefulness; anguish over one's past actions.
   3. (rare) The state of being scared or frightened.
3. A specific affliction or condition:.
   1. A medical or pathological affliction or condition; a malady.
   2. A physical affliction or condition; a sore or wound.

• English: sore
• Scots: sair

• “sōr(e, adj.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-09.

sore (comparative sorer, sorrer, superlative sorest)

1. Hurtfully, harmfully; in a way which creates wounds, painfulness, or anguish:
   1. Strictly, mercilessly, remorselessly; without attention to kindness or mercy.
   2. Expensively; in a way which creates a monetary or resource setback.
2. With intense effort, prowess, or capability:
   1. Viciously, mightily, ruthlessly, strongly; using intense strength or prowess in battle.
   2. Nimbly, powerfully, quickly; using intense dexterity or physical force.
   3. Toilingly; backbreakingly, painstakingly; with much work.
   4. With great patience and focus; diligently; patiently.
3. (Especially used with words relating to feelings or thought) Very, extremely, incredibly, a lot.
4. Taut, secure; held strongly and with security.
5. While suffering or experiencing an injury or pain.

• English: sore
• Scots: sair

• “sōre, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-09.

sore

1. Alternative form of soren

sore

1. Alternative form of sor

sore

1. Alternative form of sorre

sore

1. Alternative form of sire

Cognate with Farefare sore (“road”)

/só.rè/

sore (plural soaya)

1. road, way, path
2. journey
3. crossing

Related to sorai.[1]

sore

1. afternoon

   Synonyms: sāyaṅkāla, sontĕn, taḍah

• IPA^(key): [ˈso.ɾe]

sore

1. (intransitive) to sneeze
2. (intransitive) to crow (as a rooster)

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh