How to Use sore in a Sentence

sore

1 of 3 adjective
  • The patient has a sore throat.
  • That's a sore subject to bring up.
  • The discussion touched on a sore spot.
  • My neighbor is sore at me.
  • Are you still sore about what happened last night?
  • But that’ll be sore for a while.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 16 Dec. 2025
  • My thighs were more sore than my face.
    — Elizabeth Siegel, Allure, 20 Mar. 2026
  • The rash can start as sore spots in the mouth.
    — Nicole Villalpando, Austin American Statesman, 26 Feb. 2026
  • Bodies might be a bit more sore.
    — James L. Edwards Iii, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2026
  • The Padres high-fived till their hands were sore.
    — Ryan Finley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Perez is nursing a sore right thumb.
    — Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 7 June 2026
  • The punt return unit has been a sore spot.
    — Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
  • Your muscles are sore to the touch.
    — Jakob Roze, Health, 7 May 2026
  • But some cast members stick out like sore thumbs.
    — Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Not all of the jokes were about snowbanks and sore legs.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 27 Jan. 2026
  • The hand will feel sore or weak, struggling with grip.
    — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2026
  • A lot of them have sore necks and some bruises and bumps and cuts.
    — Nathan Pilling, Kansas City Star, 1 Sep. 2025
  • That is a sight for sore eyes in Chicago.
    — Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Brock Purdy has a sore toe, again.
    — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2025
  • And that's a sore point with me, Christine.
    — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 13 Aug. 2025
  • Stevens sticks out like a sore thumb in this price range as a value play.
    — Dennis Esser, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2026
  • His failure as a writer is a sore spot.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 Jan. 2026
  • Have sore muscles after the gym or a long day at work?
    — Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Perez is dealing with a sore hip at the moment.
    — Kansas City Star, 19 Apr. 2026
  • By the time the crowd thinned, Lincoln’s hand was sore.
    — Harold Holzer, New York Daily News, 8 Feb. 2026
  • The wife noted that her broken arm is still sore.
    — Brian Anthony Hernandez, PEOPLE, 4 Oct. 2025
  • My thumb is sore from all the scrolling and refreshing.
    — Ted Nguyen, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026
  • There’s nothing worse than sore feet on a travel day.
    — Julia Morlino, Travel + Leisure, 1 Dec. 2025
  • Timing is a sore subject as well.
    — Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 5 Aug. 2025
  • Red, dry hands that are sore and unsightly.
    — Alyssa Grabinski, PEOPLE, 11 May 2026

sore

2 of 3 noun
  • He has a sore on his lip.
  • The pads of his feet were worn down to bloody open sores.
    — Literary Hub, 9 Mar. 2026
  • This big eye sore of a random stranger!
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 19 Feb. 2026
  • Skin wounds or sores that worsen over time.
    — Janet Loehrke, USA Today, 9 June 2026
  • Drink with a straw to bypass painful mouth sores.
    — CBS News, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Mouth sores Eat soft foods that are easy to chew and swallow.
    — CBS News, 27 Mar. 2026
  • The ultimate price for that will be paid in bed sores and deaths.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 3 Feb. 2026
  • The ultimate price for that will be paid in bed sores and deaths.
    — Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Feb. 2026
  • Seeing maggots around or in open sores.
    — Janet Loehrke, USA Today, 9 June 2026
  • This sore may go unnoticed and resolve on its own.
    — Casey Pinto, The Conversation, 1 May 2026
  • She was plagued with all manner of rashes, sores and ulcers.
    — Anthony Robledo, USA Today, 22 Mar. 2026
  • The infection causes sores in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet.
    — Lauren Dunn, NBC news, 23 Sep. 2025
  • She was plagued with all manner of rashes, sores, and ulcers.
    — Amanda Peet, New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2026
  • Nigel has a sore on his lower lip, and David has one on his upper lip.
    — Rob Reiner, New Yorker, 27 Aug. 2025
  • One was covered with sores, having caught scabies in the squalid prison in which he was born.
    — The Economist, 15 Aug. 2019
  • Although most cases of shingles do not last longer than four weeks, skin sores can be painful.
    — Health Editorial Team, Health, 8 July 2023
  • If the child scratches the wound, bacteria may spread on the skin and give rise to more sores.
    — Parents Editors, Parents, 3 Sep. 2023
  • The disease normally runs its course over a few days, but the sores in the mouth can last longer.
    — Parents Editors, Parents, 3 Sep. 2023
  • Herpes is a virus that causes painful sores on your mouth or genital area.
    — Yerin Kim, Seventeen, 11 Dec. 2018
  • Ever wake up with a sore lower back or achy shoulders that just ruin the rest of your day?
    — Andee Tagle, NPR, 2 Oct. 2025
  • And my back is also a little sore after the kids practiced their best wrestler moves on me.
    — Alex Shoemaker, Parents, 26 Dec. 2025
  • Also, a sore that either won’t heal or heals and then returns needs to be addressed.
    — Greg Emmanuel, Essence, 17 Aug. 2022
  • These are open sores that form in the lining of the stomach or the first part of the small intestine.
    — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 15 Mar. 2026
  • Wolf spider bites are not poisonous and won't cause sores or body-wide symptoms from its venom.
    — Carrie Madormo, Health, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Check your legs for sores regularly.
    — Sherri Gordon, Health, 24 Aug. 2025
  • Some children have the mouth sores without the rash, while others have the rash without any sores.
    — Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 29 Oct. 2025
  • Soon afterwards, a large black sore developed on his back and red bumps showed up on his arms and legs.
    — Leada Gore | [email protected], al.com, 12 July 2019
  • Note that the symptoms (intense itchiness and sores) can take as long as four to eight weeks to show up.
    — Women's Health, 17 Mar. 2023
  • The report also described bruises, scrapes and open sores across his chest, back, arms and legs.
    — Kelly Davis, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The oozing sores on his belly are a visual reference to the term.
    — Mae Anderson, BostonGlobe.com, 13 May 2023

sore

3 of 3 adverb
  • I was sore afraid we'd never make it home.
  • Guys come up sore all the time.
    — Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Her cheeks grew sore from smiling.
    — Luca Evans, Denver Post, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Or maybe your feet are just sore from running to your gate to catch your flight.
    — Kate McCarthy, USA TODAY, 25 Oct. 2019
  • These made my arm very sore and made some in our company very sick.
    — Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press, 28 May 2018
  • And the crowd was satisfied, and left that place, sore amazed.
    — George Saunders, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2016
  • Even after taking this advice, side- and stomach-sleepers may still wake up sore.
    — Eleanor Cummins, Popular Science, 27 Oct. 2020
  • Gay missed Saturday’s win at New Orleans due to a sore lower back.
    — Tom Orsborn, San Antonio Express-News, 26 Apr. 2021
  • Eventually, an infection in the sore reached Figueroa’s hip bone.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Oct. 2023
  • All because election workers were doing their job and a bunch of sore-losing chuckleheads didn’t like the result.
    — Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2022
  • Aaron Holiday, starting with Victor Oladipo (sore back) out, couldn't make an open shot.
    — J. Michael, Indianapolis Star, 24 Feb. 2020
  • Reserve forward Keita Bates-Diop missed his second game in a row with a sore lower back.
    — Tom Orsborn, San Antonio Express-News, 9 Mar. 2022
  • No more walking with my toes crunched up or feeling constricted because the shoe has no flexibility in the toe area (which makes my toes sore).
    — Braelyn Wood, Health.com, 2 Dec. 2019
  • Linderbaum left practice early on Thursday after coming up sore during a running drill.
    — Jonas Shaffer, Baltimore Sun, 8 Aug. 2022
  • Somehow, this simple snip was going to solve all of their problems — relationship woes, professional sleights, a sore lower back.
    — Loren Savini, Allure, 30 Dec. 2022
  • Anybody still sore over New Orleans' minor league baseball team changing its name to the Baby Cakes might enjoy this one.
    — Christopher Dabe, NOLA.com, 25 Apr. 2018
  • Rafael Devers was out of the lineup against the Yankees on Saturday night with a sore lower back and that likely will be the case on Sunday.
    — Peter Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 9 July 2022
  • Ryan Grant, recovered from sore back, had three catches for 32 yards out of the slot after taking a back seat to rookie Hunter Renfrow throughout camp.
    — Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 10 Aug. 2019
  • Trouble in Mind is a sore-hearted farce, a realistic portrait of acting while Black, and (potentially) a crisp backstage comedy.
    — Helen Shaw, Vulture, 19 Nov. 2021
  • Overall, the Bear Elite Hybrid is a solid pick for sleepers who wake up sore in the lower back area, thanks to the bed’s high-gauge support coils in the center of the bed that hold up the lumbar area.
    — Kells McPhillips, SELF, 26 July 2024
  • Toward the end, people grab partners and race around the ballroom in a gallop through a tunnel of arms, an exhilarating experience—especially in heels—that leaves the heart pumping and the quads sore for days.
    — Valeriya Safronova, Vanity Fair, 19 Feb. 2026
  • Last weekend, with the fishing opener and McArdle's at full capacity, Paige was busy tending to guests' needs, including pizza baking, ice-cream-cone dipping and sore-back massaging.
    — Star Tribune, 21 May 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sore.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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