S
- Sabbatical – a period of paid leave granted to a university teacher for study or travel
- Sacrilege – sin, violation of anything sacred
- Sacrosanct – sacred, too important or valuable to be interfered with (a principle, place or routine)
- Sadistic –inclined to cruelty
- Sagacious – wise, clever, intelligent
- Salacious – having or conveying undue or indecent interest in sexual matters
- Salubrious – healthful, pleasant
- Sallow – yellowish, sickly in color
- Sally – Witty remarks
- Salvage – rescue from loss
- Sanctimonious – hypocritical, superior
- Sanguinary – bloodthirsty, murderous
- Sanguine – cheerful, hopeful
- Sardonic – satirical, sarcastic, mocking
- Sartorial – relating to style of dress or tailoring
- Saturnine – gloomy, sad
- Savant – scholar
- Savory – having pleasant taste or smell, morally respectable, inoffensive, salty or pungent to taste but not sweet
- Scads – a large number or amount
- Schism – division, split
- Scintilla – a minute amount
- Scotch – ruin, destroy
- Scourge – whip used for punishment, a person or thing that causes great trouble or suffering
- Seamy – disreputable, corrupt, shameful
- Sedentary – sitting, desk bound, inactive, still
- Seedy – unwell, disreputable
- Seethe – boil, rage, rise
- Semblance – appearance, resemblance, similarity
- Seminal – influential, creative, relating to or denoting semen
- Sepulcher – a small room or monument cut in rock or built of stone in which a dead person is laid or buried
- Servile – slavish, having an excessive willingness to serve or please others
- Shackle – a pair of fetters connected together by chain used to fasten a prisoner’s wrists or ankles together
- Sham – to pretend
- Shambles – chaos, confusion, a butcher’s slaughterhouse
- Shoddy – not genuine, inferior
- Shrew – a small mouse like mammal, a bad tempered woman
- Sinecure – an office or position that requires little o no work and that usually provides an income
- Skinflint – miser, a thrifty person, a person who spends little money
- Skirmish – small or unplanned quarrel
- Skullduggery – dishonest behavior
- Skulk – to hide or conceal out of fear. To move in stealthy manner
- Slacken – slow up, loosen
- Slake – quench or satisfy one’s thirst
- Slapdash – haphazard, careless
- Sleazy – corrupt, immoral
- Sleight – cunning, clever, deceptive
- Slither – slip, slide
- Sloth – slow moving
- Slough – soft muddy ground, skin shed by reptile or amphibian, lack or progress or activity
- Snicker – to laugh in a half suppressed or disrespectful
- Sodden – soaking, saturated
- Solace – comfort in trouble
- Sonorous – deep sound, impressive speech
- Sophistry – a fallacious argument
- Sophomoric – immature
- Soporific – sleep causing
- Spangle – small metallic piece
- Spat – minor dispute
- Spate – sudden flood
- Splice – fasten together, unite
- Sporadic – occurring irregularly, periodic
- Spruce – neat and trim
- Spry – lively, active
- Spurn – refuse, decline
- Squander – waste
- Staccato –in terms of music short and not sounding connected
- Stalwart – loyal, reliable, hard working
- Stentorian – Extremely loud
- Stickler – a person who insists on a certain quality or type of behaviour
- Stockade – wooden enclosure used for barrier
- Stricture – critical comments
- Strut – to walk in a proud way, a rod forming a part of framework and designed to resist compression
- Stultify – hamper, frustrate, suppress
- Stymie – hinder the progress, block
- Subdue – less intense- quieter
- Subjugate – conquer, bring under control
- Sublime – supreme, noble, (of a solid substance) change directly into vapour when heated
- Subpoena – summon, writ
- Subsume – include
- Subterfuge – Evasion
- Subvert – destroy
- Succor – Aid, assist
- Suffuse – spread over
- Sully – make dirty
- Sunder – split apart
- Supercilious – arrogant
- Sultry – hot
- Swelter – hot and humid atmosphere
- Superannuated – retired or disqualified because of age
- Supersede – replace, make obsolete
- Supine – lazy, lying on back
- Supple – flexible
- Supplicate – Pray to grant a favor
- Surfeit –excess, surplus
- Surly – rude
- Surmise – suspect, guess
- Sustenance – means of support
- Swarthy – dark, dusky
- Swathe – a row of line of grass
- Swerve – change or cause to change direction abruptly
- Swill – wash , rinse, drink in large quantities