77 words starting with S

• saccharine adjective

  too sweet or sentimental in a false way

  The movie’s saccharine ending made some viewers roll their eyes.

  Like syrupy, mawkish, cloying

• sacrosanct adjective

  too important or holy to be changed or questioned

  In our house, Saturday morning tea with grandmother is sacrosanct.

  Like sacred, inviolable, untouchable

• sagacious adjective

  wise and showing good judgment

  The sagacious village elder settled the dispute over the water tap.

  Like wise, shrewd, astute

• sagacity noun

  wisdom and sound judgment

  The guide’s sagacity in reading the weather kept the trekkers safe.

  Like wisdom, insight, shrewdness

• sallow adjective

  (of skin) slightly yellow and unhealthy-looking

  After weeks indoors with the flu, his face looked sallow.

  Like pale, pallid, wan

• salubrious adjective

  good for health; pleasant and clean

  The salubrious mountain air helped her recover her energy.

  Like healthy, wholesome, healthful

• salutary adjective

  producing a good effect, often after something unpleasant

  Failing the practice test was a salutary lesson in starting revision early.

  Like beneficial, helpful, valuable

• sanctimonious adjective

  acting as if morally better than others

  His sanctimonious lecture about tidiness ignored his own messy desk.

  Like self-righteous, preachy, holier-than-thou

• sanguine adjective

  cheerfully hopeful, especially in a difficult situation

  The coach remained sanguine about our chances despite the rain.

  Like optimistic, hopeful, confident

• sardonic adjective

  mocking in a dry, bitter way

  He gave a sardonic laugh when the bus broke down for the third time.

  Like mocking, sarcastic, derisive

• sate verb

  to satisfy a desire or appetite completely

  A big plate of momos sated our hunger after the football match.

  Like satisfy, satiate, fill

• satiate verb

  to fill someone with as much as or more than they want

  The huge feast satiated even the hungriest guests.

  Like sate, glut, fill

• saturnine adjective

  gloomy, serious, and unsmiling in temperament or look

  The saturnine librarian rarely smiled, but he always found the right book.

  Like gloomy, dour, morose

• savant noun

  a person of great learning or special knowledge

  The visiting savant answered every question about ancient Sanskrit texts.

  Like scholar, sage, expert

• schism noun

  a split within a group into opposing parts

  A schism in the chess club led to two separate clubs meeting on different days.

  Like split, rift, division

• scintillating adjective

  brilliantly clever and lively; sparkling

  The scientist gave a scintillating talk about black holes.

  Like brilliant, sparkling, dazzling

• scurrilous adjective

  making false, insulting claims meant to damage someone’s name

  The newspaper apologized for printing scurrilous rumors about the athlete.

  Like defamatory, slanderous, abusive

• scuttle verb

  to run with short, quick steps; to sink a ship on purpose

  A crab scuttled sideways across the wet sand.

  Like scurry, scamper, scramble

• sedition noun

  speech or action that urges people to rebel against the government

  The history book explains how colonial laws against sedition limited what newspapers could print.

  Like incitement, subversion, agitation

• sedulous adjective

  working steadily and carefully, with great attention

  The sedulous student copied every diagram neatly into her notebook.

  Like diligent, assiduous, industrious

• seminal adjective

  strongly influencing later work or ideas

  Darwin’s book was a seminal work in the study of biology.

  Like influential, groundbreaking, formative

• sententious adjective

  fond of giving moral advice in a pompous, preachy way

  The sententious speaker filled his talk with lessons nobody had asked for.

  Like moralizing, preachy, pompous

• sequester verb

  to isolate or hide away; to keep apart

  The jury was sequestered in a hotel until they reached a decision.

  Like isolate, seclude, segregate

• servile adjective

  too eager to obey or please others

  The servile assistant agreed with everything his boss said.

  Like obsequious, subservient, fawning

• shirk verb

  to avoid a duty or work through laziness

  He shirked his share of the cleaning by pretending to be busy.

  Like dodge, evade, avoid

• sinecure noun

  a job that pays well but needs little or no work

  His title of “honorary advisor” was a sinecure with no real duties.

  Like cushy job, easy job

• sinuous adjective

  having many smooth curves and turns

  The sinuous road wound up the hillside to Nagarkot.

  Like winding, serpentine, twisting

• skulk verb

  to move about or hide in a secret, guilty way

  The cat skulked behind the sofa after knocking over the vase.

  Like lurk, sneak, slink

• slake verb

  to satisfy thirst; to quench

  We slaked our thirst with cool water from the mountain stream.

  Like quench, satisfy, sate

• slothful adjective

  lazy and unwilling to work

  The slothful dog lay in the sun all afternoon.

  Like lazy, idle, indolent

• slovenly adjective

  messy and careless in appearance or work

  His slovenly handwriting made the answers hard to read.

  Like untidy, sloppy, unkempt

• sobriquet noun

  a nickname

  The tall goalkeeper earned the sobriquet “The Wall.”

  Like nickname, moniker, epithet

• solicitous adjective

  showing care and concern for someone’s comfort or well-being

  The solicitous host made sure every guest had tea and a cushion.

  Like attentive, caring, considerate

• solipsism noun

  the belief that only one’s own mind is sure to exist; extreme self-centeredness

  The philosophy class debated whether solipsism can ever be disproved.

  Like self-absorption, egocentrism

• somnolent adjective

  sleepy or drowsy; causing sleep

  The warm afternoon made the whole class somnolent.

  Like drowsy, sleepy, soporific

• sonorous adjective

  (of a sound) deep, full, and rich

  The sonorous bell of the temple could be heard across the valley.

  Like resonant, rich, booming

• sophist noun

  a person who uses clever but false arguments to win

  Like a sophist, he argued that homework was harmful because paper comes from trees.

  Like casuist, quibbler

• sophistry noun

  clever-sounding reasoning that is actually false or misleading

  Her claim that skipping class saves the school electricity was pure sophistry.

  Like casuistry, fallacy, specious reasoning

• sophomoric adjective

  immature and overconfident while poorly informed

  The essay’s sophomoric jokes distracted from its few good ideas.

  Like juvenile, immature, puerile

• soporific adjective

  causing sleep or drowsiness

  The soporific hum of the fan sent the children to sleep.

  Like sleep-inducing, somnolent, sedative

• sordid adjective

  morally low and dishonest; very dirty and unpleasant

  The newspaper exposed the sordid details of the bribery scheme.

  Like sleazy, squalid, seamy

• spartan adjective

  very simple and plain, without comfort or luxury

  The mountain hut was spartan, with just a wooden bed and a small stove.

  Like austere, plain, bare

• specious adjective

  seeming correct or true but actually false

  The advertisement made a specious claim that the drink improves memory.

  Like misleading, deceptive, fallacious

• spendthrift noun

  a person who spends money wastefully

  The spendthrift spent all his pocket money on sweets by Monday.

  Like squanderer, wastrel, prodigal

• spurious adjective

  false or fake, though made to look genuine; based on bad reasoning

  The museum found that the ancient coin was spurious.

  Like fake, false, counterfeit

• squalid adjective

  extremely dirty and unpleasant, usually from neglect

  The volunteers turned the squalid empty lot into a clean community garden.

  Like filthy, sordid, wretched

• staid adjective

  serious, respectable, and dull; not adventurous

  The staid old club finally agreed to try a new dance at the party.

  Like sedate, sober, conservative

• stalwart adjective

  loyal, reliable, and hardworking

  She has been a stalwart member of the school choir for six years.

  Like loyal, steadfast, dependable

• stasis noun

  a state of no change or movement

  The project was in stasis until the new funding arrived.

  Like stagnation, standstill

• stentorian adjective

  (of a voice) very loud and powerful

  The coach’s stentorian voice carried across the whole football ground.

  Like booming, thunderous, loud

• stilted adjective

  stiff and unnatural, not relaxed or flowing

  His stilted speech sounded as if he had memorized it from a textbook.

  Like stiff, wooden, forced

• stint noun

  a fixed period of time spent doing a job or activity

  After a two-year stint as a teacher in Jumla, she returned to Kathmandu.

  Like spell, term, period

• stolid adjective

  calm and showing little emotion, even when others are excited

  The stolid guard did not smile, even when the children made funny faces.

  Like impassive, unemotional, phlegmatic

• stratagem noun

  a clever plan or trick to achieve a goal

  Our stratagem to get the cat into its basket involved a trail of fish.

  Like scheme, ploy, ruse

• strident adjective

  loud and harsh; forceful in a way that sounds aggressive

  The strident sound of the alarm woke everyone in the house.

  Like harsh, shrill, grating

• stultify verb

  to make dull, slow, or ineffective, especially through boring routine

  Copying notes for hours can stultify even the brightest student’s curiosity.

  Like stifle, dull, deaden

• stupefy verb

  to make someone unable to think clearly, from shock or surprise

  The magician’s final trick stupefied the audience.

  Like stun, astound, daze

• stygian adjective

  extremely dark, gloomy, and forbidding

  The cave was so stygian that we could not see our hands.

  Like pitch-black, murky, gloomy

• stymie verb

  to block or prevent progress

  A broken printer stymied our plan to finish the posters before lunch.

  Like thwart, hinder, obstruct

• subjugate verb

  to bring under complete control, especially by force

  The empire subjugated many small kingdoms in the region.

  Like conquer, subdue, dominate

• sublimate verb

  to redirect a strong feeling or urge into a more acceptable activity; (in chemistry) to change from a solid straight into a gas

  He sublimated his restless energy into long runs along the river.

  Like channel, redirect, divert

• subservient adjective

  too willing to obey others; less important than something else

  The new manager did not want subservient workers who were afraid to give ideas.

  Like submissive, servile, obedient

• subterfuge noun

  a trick or secret plan used to hide the truth

  By a clever subterfuge, the twins kept the birthday party a secret.

  Like deception, trickery, ruse

• subversive adjective

  trying to weaken or overthrow an established system or authority

  The censors banned the play because they thought it was subversive.

  Like seditious, rebellious, dissident

• succor noun

  help and support in a time of need

  The villagers offered succor to the stranded trekkers during the storm.

  Like aid, relief, assistance

• sundry adjective

  of various kinds; several

  The drawer held sundry items: string, buttons, coins and a broken pencil.

  Like various, assorted, miscellaneous

• supercilious adjective

  behaving as if one is better than others; scornfully proud

  The supercilious waiter looked down his nose at our simple order.

  Like haughty, condescending, disdainful

• supine adjective

  lying flat on the back, face upward; unwilling to act

  The patient lay supine on the table for the X-ray.

  Like face-up, passive

• supplant verb

  to take the place of something or someone, often by force or cunning

  Smartphones have largely supplanted paper maps for travelers.

  Like replace, displace, supersede

• supplicant noun

  a person who humbly asks for something, especially from someone powerful

  The supplicants waited at the temple gate to present their offerings.

  Like petitioner, suppliant, pleader

• surfeit noun

  too much of something

  A surfeit of sweets during Tihar left the children with stomachaches.

  Like excess, glut, overabundance

• surly adjective

  bad-tempered and unfriendly

  The surly shopkeeper barely answered when we asked for directions.

  Like grumpy, sullen, gruff

• surreptitious adjective

  done secretly so others will not notice

  She took a surreptitious look at her watch during the long speech.

  Like secret, furtive, stealthy

• sybarite noun

  a person very fond of luxury and pleasure

  The sybarite spent the whole holiday in a spa, eating fine food.

  Like hedonist, voluptuary, pleasure-seeker

• sycophant noun

  a person who flatters important people to gain favor

  The king’s court was full of sycophants who praised his every word.

  Like flatterer, toady, yes-man

• sycophantic adjective

  flattering powerful people too much to win favor

  His sycophantic praise of the principal made the other students groan.

  Like obsequious, fawning, servile

• sylvan adjective

  relating to the woods; full of trees

  The sylvan path to the monastery was cool and shady.

  Like wooded, forested, woodland