sore
adjective · noun · verb
Simple meaning
Causing pain or discomfort.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sawrIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɔɹ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Causing pain or discomfort; painfully sensitive.
Sensitive; tender; easily pained, grieved, or vexed; very susceptible of irritation.
Dire; distressing.
informal
Feeling animosity towards someone; annoyed or angered.
noun
An injured, infected, inflamed or diseased patch of skin.
A young hawk or falcon in its first year.
A young buck in its fourth year.
Grief; affliction; trouble; difficulty.
Acronym of small off-road engine.
verb
transitive
To mutilate the legs or feet of (a horse) in order to induce a particular gait.
intransitive
To grow sores; to be beset with skin lesions.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Causing pain or discomfort; painfully sensitive.
Used this way, sore is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- afflictive , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use sore
- “After running for miles, my legs felt very sore the next morning.”
Share your sentence
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: causing pain or discomfort
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “sore” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.