S

sacrificial adj. Offering or offered as an atonement for sin.
sacrilege n. The act of violating or profaning anything sacred.
sacrilegious adj. Impious.
sagacious adj. Able to discern and distinguish with wise perception.
salacious adj. Having strong sexual desires.
salience n. The condition of standing out distinctly.
salient adj. Standing out prominently.
salutary adj. Beneficial.
salutatory n. The opening oration at the commencement in American colleges.
salvage n. Any act of saving property.
salvo n. A salute given by firing all the guns, as at the funeral of an officer.
sanctimonious adj. Making an ostentatious display or hypocritical pretense of holiness or piety.
sanction v. To approve authoritatively.
sanctity n. Holiness.
sanguinary adj. Bloody.
sanguine adj. Having the color of blood.
sanguineous adj. Consisting of blood.
sapid adj. Affecting the sense of taste.
sapience n. Deep wisdom or knowledge.
sapient adj. Possessing wisdom.
sapiential adj. Possessing wisdom.
saponaceous adj. Having the nature or quality of soap.
sardonic adj. Scornfully or bitterly sarcastic.
satiate v. To satisfy fully the appetite or desire of.
satire n. The employment of sarcasm, irony, or keenness of wit in ridiculing vices.
satiric adj. Resembling poetry, in which vice, incapacity ,or corruption is held up to ridicule.
satirize v. To treat with sarcasm or derisive wit.
satyr n. A very lascivious person.
scabbard n. The sheath of a sword or similar bladed weapon.
scintilla n. The faintest ray.
scintillate v. To emit or send forth sparks or little flashes of light.
scribe n. One who writes or is skilled in writing.
scruple n. Doubt or uncertainty regarding a question of moral right or duty.
scrupulous adj. Cautious in action for fear of doing wrong.
scurrilous adj. Grossly indecent or vulgar.
scuttle v. To sink (a ship) by making holes in the bottom.
seance n. A meeting of spirituals for consulting spirits.
sear v. To burn on the surface.
sebaceous adj. Pertaining to or appearing like fat.
secant adj. Cutting, especially into two parts.
secede v. To withdraw from union or association, especially from a political or religious body.
secession n. Voluntary withdrawal from fellowship, especially from political or religious bodies.
sedate adj. Even-tempered.
sedentary adj. Involving or requiring much sitting.
sediment n. Matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid.
sedition n. Conduct directed against public order and the tranquillity of the state.
seditious adj. Promotive of conduct directed against public order and the tranquillity of the state.
sedulous adj. Persevering in effort or endeavor.
seer n. A prophet.
seethe v. To be violently excited or agitated.
seignior n. A title of honor or respectful address, equivalent to sir.
semblance n. Outward appearance.
semiconscious adj. Partially conscious.
seminar n. Any assemblage of pupils for real research in some specific study under a teacher.
seminary n. A special school, as of theology or pedagogics.
sensorium n. The sensory apparatus.
sentinel n. Any guard or watch stationed for protection.
separable adj. Capable of being disjoined or divided.
separatist n. A seceder.
septennial adj. Recurring every seven years.
sepulcher n. A burial-place.
sequacious adj. Ready to be led.
sequester v. To cause to withdraw or retire, as from society or public life.
sequestrate v. To confiscate.
servitude n. Slavery.
shiftless adj. Wanting in resource, energy, or executive ability.
shrinkage n. A contraction of any material into less bulk or dimension.
shrivel v. To draw or be drawn into wrinkles.
sibilant adj. Made with a hissing sound.
sibilate v. To give a hissing sound to, as in pronouncing the letter s.
sidelong adj. Inclining or tending to one side.
sidereal adj. Pertaining to stars or constellations.
siege n. A beleaguerment.
similitude n. Similarity.
simultaneous adj. Occurring, done, or existing at the same time.
sinecure n. Any position having emoluments with few or no duties.
sinuosity n. The quality of curving in and out.
sinuous adj. Curving in and out.
siren n. A sea-nymph, described by Homer as dwelling between the island of Circe and Scylla.
sirocco n. hot winds from Africa.
skeptic n. One who doubts any statements.
skiff n. Usually, a small light boat propelled by oars.
skirmish n. Desultory fighting between advanced detachments of two armies.
sleight n. A trick or feat so deftly done that the manner of performance escapes observation.
sluggard n. A person habitually lazy or idle.
solace n. Comfort in grief, trouble, or calamity.
solder n. A fusible alloy used for joining metallic surfaces or margins.
solecism n. Any violation of established rules or customs.
solicitor n. One who represents a client in court of justice; an attorney.
solicitude n. Uneasiness of mind occasioned by desire, anxiety, or fear.
solvent adj. Having sufficient funds to pay all debts.
somber adj. Gloomy.
somniferous adj. Tending to produce sleep.
somnolence n. Oppressive drowsiness.
somnolent adj. Sleepy.
sonata n. An instrumental composition.
sonnet n. A poem of fourteen decasyllabic or octosyllabiclines expressing two successive phrases.
sonorous adj. Resonant.
soothsayer n. One who claims to have supernatural insight or foresight.
sophism n. A false argument understood to be such by the reasoner himself and intentionally used to deceive
sophistical adj. Fallacious.
sophistry n. Reasoning sound in appearance only, especially when designedly deceptive.
sordid adj. Of degraded character or nature.
sparse adj. Thinly diffused.
spasmodic adj. Convulsive.
specie n. A coin or coins of gold, silver, copper, or other metal.
specious adj. Plausible.
spectator n. One who beholds or looks on.
specter n. Apparition.
spectrum n. An image formed by rays of light or other radiant energy.
speculate v. To pursue inquiries and form conjectures.
speculator n. One who makes an investment that involves a risk of loss, but also a chance of profit.
spinster n. A woman who has never been married.
spontaneous adj. Arising from inherent qualities or tendencies without external efficient cause.
sprightly adj. Vivacious.
spurious adj. Not genuine.
squabble v. To quarrel.
squalid adj. Having a dirty, mean, poverty-stricken appearance.
squatter n. One who settles on land without permission or right.
stagnant adj. Not flowing: said of water, as in a pool.
stagnate v. To become dull or inert.
stagnation n. The condition of not flowing or not changing.
stagy adj. Having a theatrical manner.
staid adj. Of a steady and sober character.
stanchion n. A vertical bar, or a pair of bars, used to confine cattle in a stall.
statecraft n. The art of conducting state affairs.
statistician n. One who is skilled in collecting and tabulating numerical facts.
statuesque adj. Having the grace, pose, or quietude of a statue.
statuette n. A figurine.
statute n. Any authoritatively declared rule, ordinance, decree, or law.
steppe n. One of the extensive plains in Russia and Siberia.
sterling adj. Genuine.
stigma n. A mark of infamy or token of disgrace attaching to a person as the result of evil-doing.
stiletto n. A small dagger.
stimulus n. Incentive.
stingy adj. Cheap, unwilling to spend money.
stipend n. A definite amount paid at stated periods in compensation for services or as an allowance.
Stoicism n. The principles or the practice of the Stoics-being very even tempered in success and failure.
stolid adj. Expressing no power of feeling or perceiving.
stratagem n. Any clever trick or device for obtaining an advantage.
stratum n. A natural or artificial layer, bed, or thickness of any substance or material.
streamlet n. Rivulet.
stringency n. Strictness.
stringent adj. Rigid.
stripling n. A mere youth.
stultify v. To give an appearance of foolishness to.
stupendous adj. Of prodigious size, bulk, or degree.
stupor n. Profound lethargy.
suasion n. The act of persuading.
subacid adj. Somewhat sharp or biting.
subconscious adj. Being or occurring in the mind, but without attendant consciousness or conscious perception.
subjection n. The act of bringing into a state of submission.
subjugate v. To conquer.
subliminal adj. Being beneath the threshold of consciousness.
sublingual adj. Situated beneath the tongue.
submittal n. The act of submitting.
subordinate adj. Belonging to an inferior order in a classification.
subsequent adj. Following in time.
subservience n. The quality, character, or condition of being servilely following another's behests.
subservient adj. Servilely following another's behests.
subsist v. To be maintained or sustained.
subsistence n. Sustenance.
subtend v. To extend opposite to.
subterfuge n. Evasion.
subterranean adj. Situated or occurring below the surface of the earth.
subtle adj. Discriminating.
subtrahend n. That which is to be subtracted.
subversion n. An overthrow, as from the foundation.
subvert v. To bring to ruin.
succinct adj. Concise.
succumb v. To cease to resist.
sufferance n. Toleration.
suffuse v. To cover or fill the surface of.
sumptuous adj. Rich and costly.
superabundance n. An excessive amount.
superadd v. To add in addition to what has been added.
superannuate v. To become deteriorated or incapacitated by long service.
supercilious adj. Exhibiting haughty and careless contempt.
superfluity n. That part of anything that is in excess of what is needed.
superfluous adj. Being more than is needed.
superintendence n. Direction and management.
superintendent n. One who has the charge and direction of, especially of some work or movement.
supernumerary adj. Superfluous.
supersede v. To displace.
supine adj. Lying on the back.
supplant v. To take the place of.
supplementary adj. Being an addition to.
supplicant n. One who asks humbly and earnestly.
supplicate v. To beg.
supposition n. Conjecture.
suppress v. To prevent from being disclosed or punished.
suppressible adj. Capable of being suppressed.
suppression n. A forcible putting or keeping down.
supramundane adj. Supernatural.
surcharge n. An additional amount charged.
surety n. Security for payment or performance.
surfeit v. To feed to fullness or to satiety.
surmount v. To overcome by force of will.
surreptitious adj. Clandestine.
surrogate n. One who or that which is substituted for or appointed to act in place of another.
surveyor n. A land-measurer.
sustenance n. Food.
swarthy adj. Having a dark hue, especially a dark or sunburned complexion.
Sybarite n. A luxurious person.
sycophant n. A servile flatterer, especially of those in authority or influence.
sylph n. A slender, graceful young woman or girl.
symphonic adj. Characterized by a harmonious or agreeable mingling of sounds.
symphonious adj. Marked by a harmonious or agreeable mingling of sounds.
synchronism n. Simultaneousness.
syndicate n. An association of individuals united for the prosecution of some enterprise.
syneresis n. The coalescence of two vowels or syllables, as e'er for ever.
synod n. An ecclesiastical council.