Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having sore eyes: Describes a person or creature experiencing discomfort, pain, or irritation in their eyes.
   • Suffering from pinkeye or conjunctivitis: Specifically describes the condition of having an inflammation or infection of the conjunctiva, the membrane covering the white part of the eye and inner eyelid, often causing redness, soreness, and discharge.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • After a long night of reading in poor light, he woke up feeling sore-eyed.
  • The child was kept home from school because she was sore-eyed and possibly contagious.
  • The dusty workshop left all the workers sore-eyed by the end of the day.

Advanced Usage

• Descriptive Use: Can be used metaphorically or hyperbolically to describe a tired, strained appearance, as from crying or lack of sleep, even without a medical condition.
  • She looked sore-eyed and weary after hearing the sad news.

Variants and Related Words

• Soreness (noun): The state of being sore or painful.
  • The soreness in his eyes was a symptom of the allergy.
• Eyesore (noun): This is a different, unrelated compound word meaning something that is very ugly to look at.
  • The abandoned building was an eyesore for the neighborhood.

Synonyms

• Bleary-eyed: Having eyes blurred or dimmed, especially from tiredness or tears.
• Inflamed-eyed: Having eyes that are red and swollen due to inflammation.

Related Phrases

• To have sore eyes: The verbal phrase from which the adjective is derived.
  • I think I have sore eyes from all this screen time.

Adjective

1. having sore eyes; suffering from pinkeye or conjunctivitis