sore point
noun1
Idiomatic An action, belief, or state of affairs which is an enduring basis for disagreement or dissatisfaction.
- The affair of the chaplaincy remained a sore point in his memory as a case in which this petty medium of Middlemarch had been too strong for him.1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XVIII, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book II, page 337:
- It is a sore point with me, this being told what I am to do or not do by you self-constituted lords of creation.1911 March, Jack London, chapter 6, in Adventure, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC:
1 more example
- [T]he talks have touched on Iran's suspected nuclear-weapons program, its sponsorship of terrorism and other sore points.2003 October 27, Adam Zagorin, Scott MacLeod, “So Who's Talking To Iran?”, in Time, archived from the original on 20 Jan 2011:
- Related terms
- pain point