Phrase guide

cold sore

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈkoʊld ˌsɔɹ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A small bump (namely a vesicle) on the lips resulting from infection by herpes simplex viruses (mostly HHV1 but also HHV2).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, pathology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: oral herpes, herpes labialis, fever blister

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: herpes simplex

History

Etymology

Compound of cold + sore, probably for the tendency of the vesicles to recur along with other illness, or possibly during cold weather, though this explanation is less common. Compare synonym fever blister.

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: pansa — small bump on the lips
  • Chinese Mandarin: 唇皰疹 /唇疱疹 (chúnpàozhěn) — small bump on the lips
  • Danish: forkølelsessår — small bump on the lips
  • Dutch: koortslip — small bump on the lips
  • Finnish: yskänrokko — small bump on the lips
  • French: bouton de fièvre — small bump on the lips
  • French: feu sauvage — small bump on the lips
  • Galician: herpes — small bump on the lips
  • Galician: cuxillo — small bump on the lips
  • Galician: boqueira — small bump on the lips
  • German: Lippenherpes — small bump on the lips
  • German: Fieberbläschen — small bump on the lips
  • Greenlandic: forkølelsessår — small bump on the lips
  • Hungarian: herpesz — small bump on the lips
  • Hungarian: ajakherpesz — small bump on the lips
  • Hungarian: szájherpesz — small bump on the lips
  • Inuktitut: ᐊᒻᒪᖅᑎ (ammaqti) — small bump on the lips
  • Kapampangan: agyap — small bump on the lips
  • Kapampangan: agiap — small bump on the lips
  • Norman: feu sauvage — small bump on the lips
  • Polish: opryszczka — small bump on the lips
  • Romanian: abces rece — small bump on the lips
  • Russian: просто́й ге́рпес (prostój gérpes) — small bump on the lips
  • Russian: ге́рпес губ (gérpes gub) — small bump on the lips
  • Swedish: munsår — small bump on the lips
  • Turkish: uçuk — small bump on the lips
  • Vietnamese: mụn rộp — small bump on the lips