▪ I. eyesore
(ˈaɪsɔə(r))
[f. eye n.1 + sore n.]
† 1. A soreness of the eyes. Obs.
(In quot. a 1300 perh. an adj.)
| ? a 1300 Salomon & Sat. (1848) 272 Betere is eyesor þen al blynd, quoþ Hendyng. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 76 a, Dates..ar hurtfull for them that haue..the eysore and..the tooth ache. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 94 Muche lookyng so, breedth much eie sore. |
2. Something permanently offensive to the sight; an ugly mark or feature.
| 1530 Rastell Bk. Purgat. iii. viii. 2 The spottes..be a great deformyte and eye sore. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. 222 These eyesores and blemishes in continual attendants about the service of Gods sanctuary. 1617 Markham Caval. iii. 51 To bee..sickle hought behinde..is not amisse, though it be a little eye-sore. 1726 Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. I. 19 b, He is continually repenting and fretting at the Eye-sore. 1827 H. Steuart Planter's G. (1828) 136 This, in parks much exposed, is found a very serious eye-sore. 1867 A. Barry Sir C. Barry viii. 288 All the eyesores on the Surrey bank of the river. |
† b. On a horse: A scar; also a flaw, defect. Obs.
| 1678 Lond. Gaz. No. 1346/4 A dapple grey Gelding..an eye sore above his hoof upon one of his hinder legs. 1690 Dryden Don Sebast. i. i, He's the best peice of Man's flesh in the Market; not an Eyesore in his whole body. 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4795/4 An Eye-sore on the near hind Foot caused in Pacing. |
3. A cause of annoyance, offence, or vexation; an object of dislike or disgust.
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke xvi. 137 He might haue been an iyesore to all. 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 63/2, I wote well how great an eiesore I am in your sight. a 1618 Raleigh Rem. (1644) 98 Thou shalt be a burthen, and an Eye sore to thy friends. 1759 B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. I. Hants 125 The French..to whom they have always been an Eye-sore. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 119 The onion patches of Pyquag were an eyesore to Jacobus Van Curlet and his garrison. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. x. (1877) 206 Many of their neighbours are eyesores to them, and the very sight of them interrupts their repose. |
| attrib. 1875 W. M{supc}Ilwraith Guide Wigtownshire 59 Antiquated and eyesore erections. |
▪ II. ˈeyesore, a.
[f. eye n.1 + sore a.]
That has sore eyes. Hence ˈeyesoreness, soreness of the eyes; in quot. fig. Offensive ugliness.
| 1883 Harper's Mag. Feb. 333/1 A bower of charm to the æsthetic sense in the midst of a dirty money-grubbing eye⁓soreness. |