sore

/sɔː/

//sɔː// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"sore" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sore” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,289. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,289
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Causing pain or discomfort; painfully sensitive.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sore · sore · English

sore · rank #7,289 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,289
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH spark

Nearest frequency peer: spark (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “sore”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “sore” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sore vs sue
50% similar
sore vs sox
50% similar
sore vs soy
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sore
PropertyValue
Headwordsore
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/sɔː/
Letters4
Frequency rank#7,289
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sore” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).sorelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “spark” (#7,290), “sneak” (#7,287), “speculation” (#7,291). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around sore (IPA /sɔː/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #7,289 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for sore, with forms such as "osre", "soer", and "sorre". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sue", "sox", "soy", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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, … The correct English form is sore, spelled S-O-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Causing pain or discomfort; painfully sensitive.
  2. 2
    Sensitive; tender; easily pained, grieved, or vexed; very susceptible of irritation.
  3. 3
    Dire; distressing.
  4. 4
    Feeling animosity towards someone; annoyed or angered.
  5. 5
    Criminal; wrong; evil.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sore appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Her feet were sore from walking so far.
  2. Malice and hatred are very fretting and vexatious, and apt to make our minds sore and uneasy.

Etymology

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”).

This word in other languages

dolorido(Español)douloureux(Français)wund(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • osre
  • soer
  • sorre
  • sroe
  • ssore

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sore - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

osre2soer2sorre1sroe2ssore1
Edit distance from "sore"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sore"?
"sore" is spelled S-O-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /sɔː/.
What does "sore" mean?
As an adjective, "sore" means: Causing pain or discomfort; painfully sensitive.
What words are commonly confused with "sore"?
"sore" is commonly confused with "sue", "sox", "soy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sore"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sore" is /sɔː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "sore"?
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 b... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sore", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Reid#7,275bean#7,313bump#7,316pigs#7,261

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

neat5 variantsLuis5 variantsdeaf5 variantsoval5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "sore". Here's where to go from here.

  • "sore" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "sue". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #7,289 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list