This list includes 54 Big words that start with S, from “saccharine” to “synoptic”. These entries are polysyllabic, formal, and often literary or academic, useful for writers, students, and speakers.
Big words that start with S are polysyllabic, high-register terms you can use to sharpen tone and precision. Many come from Latin or Greek roots, like “synoptic” from Greek synopsis, used in scholarly summaries.
Below you’ll find the table with the word, etymology, and definition.
Word: Shows the headword in alphabetical order so you can quickly locate and recognize terms for use.
Etymology: Gives language of origin and root elements so you understand historical meaning and form new words.
Definition: Provides a concise, one-sentence meaning you can apply immediately in writing, speech, or study.
Big words that start with S
| Word | Part of speech | Etymology | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| sagacious | adj. | Latin sagax ‘wise’, 17th c. | Having keen judgment; wise. |
| salubrious | adj. | Latin salubris ‘healthful’, 17th c. | Conducive to health; wholesome. |
| sanctimonious | adj. | Latin sanctus + -monia, 17th c. | Pretending moral superiority; hypocritically pious. |
| sanguinary | adj. | Latin sanguinarius ‘bloody’, 17th c. | Marked by bloodshed; bloody or violent. |
| sapient | adj. | Latin sapiens ‘wise’, 16th c. | Wise or showing great knowledge. |
| sardonic | adj. | Greek sardonios, 17th c. | Mocking, cynical, grimly humorous. |
| satiety | noun | Latin satietas ‘fullness’, 15th c. | State of being satisfied, often by food or desire. |
| saturnine | adj. | Latin Saturninus ‘of Saturn’, 16th c. | Gloomy, slow to act, melancholic. |
| scleroderma | noun | Greek skleros ‘hard’ + derma ‘skin’, 19th c. | Autoimmune disease causing skin hardening. |
| schadenfreude | noun | German Schaden ‘damage’ + Freude ‘joy’, 20th c. | Pleasure at another’s misfortune. |
| schematic | adj. | Greek schema ‘form’, 17th c. | Diagrammatic or broadly representative; simplified. |
| scintillating | adj. | Latin scintilla ‘spark’, 17th c. | Brilliantly lively or stimulating. |
| scintilla | noun | Latin scintilla ‘spark’, 17th c. | A tiny amount; trace. |
| sclerotic | adj. | Greek skleros ‘hard’, 18th c. | Hardened or rigid; medically relating to sclera. |
| somnolent | adj. | Latin somnolentus ‘sleepy’, 15th c. | Drowsy; tending to induce sleep. |
| somnambulist | noun | Latin somnus ‘sleep’ + ambulare ‘walk’, 18th c. | Person who sleepwalks. |
| solipsism | noun | Latin solus + ipse, 19th c. | Philosophy that only the self is knowable. |
| soliloquy | noun | Latin soliloquium ‘talking to oneself’, 15th c. | Speech by a character alone on stage. |
| somatic | adj. | Greek soma ‘body’, 19th c. | Relating to the body rather than mind. |
| sophistry | noun | Greek sophistes ‘wise man’, 15th c. | Plausible but false reasoning; fallacious argument. |
| soporific | adj. | Latin sopor ‘sleep’ + -fic, 17th c. | Causing sleep; dull or boring. |
| supercilious | adj. | Latin supercilium ‘eyebrow’, 17th c. | Haughtily contemptuous; arrogant. |
| superfluous | adj. | Latin superfluus ‘overflowing’, 15th c. | Unnecessary; excessive. |
| sumptuous | adj. | Latin sumptuosus ‘costly’, 15th c. | Lavishly splendid; costly-looking. |
| synergistic | adj. | Greek syn ‘together’ + ergon ‘work’, 20th c. | Working together to produce enhanced effects. |
| sycophant | noun | Greek sykophantes ‘informer’, 16th c. | One who flatters for personal gain. |
| sybaritic | adj. | Named for Sybaris (Greek city), 18th c. | Devoted to luxury and pleasure. |
| syllepsis | noun | Greek syllepsis ‘a taking together’, 18th–19th c. | Rhetorical device using one word for two senses. |
| synesthetic | adj. | Greek syn ‘together’ + aisthesis ‘sensation’, 19th c. | Pertaining to cross‑sensory perception. |
| synonymy | noun | Greek syn ‘together’ + onyma ‘name’, 19th c. | Relationship among words with similar meanings. |
| syncretism | noun | Greek synkretismos, 17th c. | Blending of different beliefs or practices. |
| synoptic | adj. | Greek syn ‘together’ + opsis ‘view’, 17th c. | Giving a general or summary view. |
| synchronicity | noun | German/Greek coinage, 20th c. (Jung) | Meaningful coincidence without causation. |
| synchronous | adj. | Greek sunkhronos ‘same time’, 17th c. | Happening at the same time; simultaneous. |
| synecdoche | noun | Greek synekdoche ‘taking together’, 16th c. | Figure of speech where part stands for whole. |
| saccharine | adj. | Greek sakkharon ‘sugar’, 17th c. | Excessively sweet; cloying sentimentality. |
| sacrosanct | adj. | Latin sacer ‘sacred’ + sanctus, 17th c. | Regarded as too important to change. |
| salacious | adj. | Latin salax ‘lustful’, 17th c. | Lewd or lustful; tending to excite sexual desire. |
| schismatic | adj. | Greek schisma ‘split’, 17th c. | Relating to a church split; divisive. |
| secularism | noun. | Latin saeculum ‘age, world’, 19th c. | Principle of separating religion from public affairs. |
| sequestration | noun | Latin sequestrare ‘to sequester’, 17th c. | Legal seizure or isolation; withholding. |
| sesquipedalian | adj. | Latin sesquipedalis ‘a foot and a half’, 17th c. | Given to long words; long‑worded. |
| serendipity | noun | Coined 1754 from Persian fairy tale, 18th c. | Fortunate discovery by chance. |
| sesamoid | adj./noun | Greek sesamon ‘sesame seed’, 19th c. | Small, rounded bone resembling a seed. |
| schizophrenic | adj. | Greek schizein ‘split’ + phren ‘mind’, 20th c. | Relating to schizophrenia; divided or inconsistent. |
| scintigraphy | noun | Latin scintilla ‘spark’ + -graphy, 20th c. | Medical imaging using radioactive tracers. |
| speculative | adj. | Latin speculatus ‘observed, guessed’, 16th c. | Based on conjecture rather than certainty. |
| spurious | adj. | Latin spurius ‘false’, 15th c. | Not genuine; false or counterfeit. |
| stratification | noun | Latin stratum ‘layer’ + -fication, 17th c. | Arrangement into layers or classes. |
| stratocracy | noun | Greek stratos ‘army’ + -cracy, 19th c. | Government ruled by the military. |
| stupefaction | noun | Latin stupefacere ‘to stun’, 16th c. | State of astonishment or dulling of senses. |
| subjugation | noun | Latin subjugare ‘to bring under yoke’, 17th c. | Act of bringing under domination or control. |
| subterfuge | noun | Latin subter ‘beneath’ + fugere ‘to flee’, 17th c. | Deceptive stratagem used to evade rules. |
| subversive | adj. | Latin subvertere ‘to overturn’, 17th c. | Seeking to undermine authority or institutions. |
Descriptions
sagacious
(3 syllables) Literary adjective for shrewd, practical wisdom; used in formal praise or critique. Common in essays and character descriptions.
salubrious
(4 syllables) Formal adjective for healthful climates, habits, or reputations; slightly elevated register, often in literary or medical contexts.
sanctimonious
(5 syllables) Pejorative, high‑register adjective used in criticism of moral posturing; common in commentary and rhetoric.
sanguinary
(4 syllables) Formal, somewhat archaic adjective used in historical or literary descriptions of battles and crimes.
sapient
(3 syllables) Elevated adjective, often philosophical or literary; appears in phrases like “homo sapiens” and academic writing.
sardonic
(3 syllables) Literary adjective for bitter or disdainful irony; common in criticism and character sketches.
satiety
(4 syllables) Formal noun used in psychology, literature, and discourse on appetite or desire; implies excess relief.
saturnine
(3 syllables) Literary adjective denoting a dour temperament; used in personality descriptions and fiction.
scleroderma
(4 syllables) Medical term; technical and formal, used in clinical contexts and patient information.
schadenfreude
(4 syllables) Loanword commonly used in literary and psychological contexts; slightly rare but widely understood.
schematic
(3 syllables) Technical or editorial adjective for diagrams, outlines, or models; neutral register.
scintillating
(4 syllables) High‑register adjective praising wit or performance; often used in reviews and compliments.
scintilla
(3 syllables) Formal noun meaning a shred or spark of something; used in legal or literary contexts.
sclerotic
(3 syllables) Medical and figurative adjective—describes diseases or inflexible institutions; formal tone.
somnolent
(3 syllables) Literary/medical adjective for sleepiness or soporific effects; common in descriptive prose.
somnambulist
(4 syllables) Technical/clinical term also used in literary depictions; slightly rare in everyday speech.
solipsism
(3 syllables) Philosophical noun; high‑register, used in discussions of epistemology and skepticism.
soliloquy
(4 syllables) Literary term central to drama studies and criticism; formal vocabulary for writers and students.
somatic
(3 syllables) Technical adjective in medicine and psychology; used in contrasts like “somatic vs. psychological.”
sophistry
(3 syllables) Pejorative, formal noun used in logical critique and rhetorical analysis.
soporific
(4 syllables) Literary/medical adjective describing sleep‑inducing substances or tedious discourse.
supercilious
(5 syllables) Elevated, critical adjective often applied in literary character studies or social critique.
superfluous
(4 syllables) Formal adjective for redundancy; common in editorial guidance and formal prose.
sumptuous
(3 syllables) Literary adjective for rich displays, banquets, or fabrics; often used in descriptive writing.
synergistic
(4 syllables) Technical/business adjective describing cooperative interactions; common in management and science.
sycophant
(3 syllables) Pejorative noun used in formal criticism of obsequious behavior in social or political contexts.
sybaritic
(4 syllables) Literary adjective for indulgent lifestyles; rare and slightly exotic in tone.
syllepsis
(3 syllables) Technical literary term for a figure of speech; used in grammar and stylistic analysis.
synesthetic
(4 syllables) Technical adjective in neurology and art; used in descriptive criticism and science.
synonymy
(4 syllables) Linguistic term used in lexicography and semantics; formal register useful to writers.
syncretism
(3 syllables) Anthropological/religious studies term, applied to cultural or theological fusion.
synoptic
(3 syllables) Formal adjective used in summaries, the “Synoptic Gospels,” or overview contexts.
synchronicity
(5 syllables) Psychological term popularized by Jung; used in literary criticism and pop psychology.
synchronous
(3 syllables) Technical and formal adjective used in science, computing, and narrative pacing.
synecdoche
(4 syllables) Literary/ rhetorical term taught in composition and literary analysis.
saccharine
(3 syllables) Pejorative adjective for mawkish sweetness in speech or writing; also chemical noun for sweetener.
sacrosanct
(3 syllables) Formal adjective denoting untouchable status; common in political and moral discourse.
salacious
(3 syllables) Pejorative, high‑register adjective used in legal and moral contexts.
schismatic
(3 syllables) Technical/religious adjective; used in ecclesiastical history and critique.
secularism
(4 syllables) Political/philosophical noun used in policy debates and history; formal register.
sequestration
(4 syllables) Legal and environmental term; formal use in law, finance, and ecology.
sesquipedalian
(6 syllables) Playful, self‑referential adjective prized by logophiles; often used humorously or critically.
serendipity
(5 syllables) Charming, literary noun for happy accidents; popular in culture and creative writing.
sesamoid
(3 syllables) Anatomical term used in medicine and biology; technical but standard.
schizophrenic
(4 syllables) Medical adjective and metaphorical use; clinical contexts require sensitivity.
scintigraphy
(4 syllables) Technical term in nuclear medicine; high‑register and clinical.
speculative
(4 syllables) Formal adjective used in finance, philosophy, and literary hypothesis.
spurious
(3 syllables) Formal adjective common in academic critique and reporting; implies deception or error.
stratification
(5 syllables) Technical/academic noun in sociology, geology, and data analysis; formal register.
stratocracy
(4 syllables) Political science term; rare and formal, used in comparative politics.
stupefaction
(4 syllables) Literary/medical noun describing shock or numbness; formal usage.
subjugation
(4 syllables) Historical and political term, used in discussions of empire and oppression.
subterfuge
(3 syllables) Pejorative, formal noun common in legal and political criticism.
subversive
(3 syllables) Political adjective used in commentary and security contexts; carries strong connotations.