Sore Meaning
/sɔː/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjCausing pain or discomfort; painfully sensitive.
adjSensitive; tender; easily pained, grieved, or vexed; very susceptible of irritation.
Sentence Examples
I have a very sore arm where you hit me.
I have a sore throat because of too much smoking.
Symptoms include a headache and sore throat.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After running ten miles, his legs were ____ and he could barely walk.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
My muscles were very ____ after the intense workout at the gym, so I took a warm bath to relax.
Word Origin & History
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 *seh₂iro-, enlargement of *seh₂y- (“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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Malice and hatred are very fretting and vexatious, and apt to make our minds sore and uneasy."
— 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: […], London: […] B. Aylmer, […]; [a]nd W. Rogers, […], published 1696, →OCLC:
"“God damn it.” He was sore as hell. He was really furious."
— 1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 53:
"TfN is clearly very sore about last year's axing of part of HS2."
— 2024 May 1, “Network News: Do TfN and the DfT actually respect each other?”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 13:
"[…]and your water is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body."
— 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 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."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joshua 9:24:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After running ten miles, his legs were ____ and he could barely walk.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
My muscles were very ____ after the intense workout at the gym, so I took a warm bath to relax.