150 Verbs That Start With S | Definitions & Examples
Lists of verbs that start with S can be useful for students, teachers, and anyone looking to expand their vocabulary. This article lists 150 verbs beginning with S including definitions, grouped into everyday verbs like “save,” “scratch,” and “search” and more advanced verbs like “sanctify,” “speculate,” and “surmise.”
Try a prompt like: “Give me a list of irregular verbs that start with S.”
50 common verbs that start with S
Here are 50 very commonly used verbs that start with the letter S, along with their definitions.
- Save: Keep money or something for later use
- Say: Speak words with your voice
- Scratch: Lightly cut into a surface with something sharp
- Scream: Make a very loud sound because you are scared, hurt, or excited
- Search: Look carefully to try to find someone or something
- See: Notice something with your eyes
- Sell: Give something to someone for money
- Send: Make something go to a person or place
- Seem: Look or feel like something is true
- Serve: Give food or help to a person
- Set: Adjust a device so it works in the way you want
- Slide: Move smoothly across a surface
- Share: Give part of what you have to someone else
- Shake: Move something up and down quickly
- Shoot: Fire a gun to send out a bullet
- Shop: Go to stores to buy things
- Show: Let someone see something
- Shout: Speak very loudly
- Shut: Close something so it is not open
- Sing: Make music with your voice
- Sit: Rest your body on a chair or the ground
- Skip: Move forward with small jumps, often in a happy way
- Smile: Show a happy or friendly look on your face
- Smell: Notice what is in the air by using your nose
- Sneak: Move quietly and secretly so you are not seen or heard
- Snow: Be weather where small white pieces of ice fall from the sky
- Solve: Find the answer to a problem
- Sort: Put things into groups by type, size, or order
- Speak: Say words to someone
- Spend: Use money to buy things
- Spin: Turn around and around
- Spill: Let a liquid fall out of a cup or other container
- Spread: Move something out so it covers a larger area
- Squeeze: Press something hard, often to push something out
- Stamp: Step down hard with your foot
- Stand: Be on your feet in an upright position
- Start: Begin to do something
- Stay: Keep being in the same place
- Steal: Take something that is not yours
- Step: Move by putting one foot in front of the other
- Stop: End an action or make something not move
- Stir: Move a spoon or other tool in circles through a liquid
- Study: Spend time learning about a subject
- Succeed: Get the result you wanted
- Suggest: Give an idea for someone to think about
- Support: Help someone or something stay strong or work well
- Surprise: Cause someone to feel sudden wonder because they did not expect it
- Sweep: Clean a floor or surface by moving dirt away with a broom
- Swim: Move through water using your arms and legs
- Swing: Move backward and forward in a regular way
The cat scratched my hand with its claws.
We’ve searched everywhere for the missing keys.
I set the oven to 180 degrees.
Maria slid the book across the table.
Someone has spilled water on the floor.
- If you use “tell,” you have to include the “listener” (i.e., you tell someone something).
- If you use “say,” you can include the “listener” by using “to” (i.e., you say something to someone)
- Paul told the teacher he would be late.
- Paul said he would be late.
- Paul said to the teacher (that) he would be late.
- Paul told he would be late.
- Paul said the teacher he would be late.
QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker can help you catch common errors with easy-to-confuse verbs like “say” and “tell,” “bring” and “take,” “raise” and “rise,” and “borrow” and “lend.”
100 advanced verbs that start with S
Here are 100 more advanced verbs that start with S—the kind of verbs that might appear in reading passages and vocabulary questions on advanced language proficiency tests, standardized tests, or college entrance exams.
- Transitive verbs vs. intransitive verbs (e.g., “They surrendered” vs. “They surrendered their guns”)
- Verb tense (e.g., “They always scrutinize it” vs. “They have scrutinized it again” vs. “They scrutinized it last time,” etc.)
- Passive voice vs. active voice (e.g., “They sabotaged the plan” vs. “The plan was sabotaged by them”)
- Gerunds vs. infinitives (e.g., “She stopped smoking” vs. “She stopped to smoke”)
- Sabotage: Damage or weaken something on purpose, often in a hidden way
- Safeguard: Protect something from harm or loss
- Salvage: Save or take back something useful from damage or failure
- Sanctify: Declare something holy or sacred
- Sanction: Give official approval or impose an official penalty
- Sanitize: Clean something to make it free of dirt or germs
- Satiate: Fully satisfy a need or desire, often for food
- Saturate: Fill something completely, especially with liquid
- Scaffold: Support and shape something while it is being built or developed
- Scandalize: Shock or upset people by breaking moral or social rules
- Scavenge: Search for and collect useful things from what is left behind
- Scold: Speak to someone angrily because they did something wrong
- Scorn: Feel and show strong dislike and disrespect
- Scrutinize: Examine something very closely and carefully
- Secede: Formally leave a group, organization, or country
- Seclude: Keep someone or something away from other people
- Secrete: Produce and release a substance from the body or a cell
- Secularize: Make something less religious or not controlled by religion
- Sedate: Calm someone, often by giving medicine that makes them relaxed or sleepy
- Seduce: Persuade someone to do something, often by charm, promises, or attraction
- Segment: Divide something into separate parts or sections
- Segregate: Separate people or things into different groups, often unfairly
- Sensationalize: Present something in a dramatic, shocking way to get attention
- Sensitize: Make someone or something more aware of an issue, or more likely to react
- Sequester: Set apart and keep separate, often for protection or privacy
- Serialize: Publish or present something in a series of parts over time
- Sever: Cut off or end a connection completely
After the fire, none of the factory equipment could be salvaged.
She scrutinized the contract line by line before signing it.
The court decided to sequester the jury overnight to prevent any exposure to the intense media coverage.
- Shackle: Lock or tie someone or something with chains or restraints
- Shed: Fall off or come off naturally, like hair, skin, or leaves
- Shepherd: Guide and support a person or group through a process
- Shun: Avoid someone on purpose, often to show disapproval and for a long period
- Sidestep: Avoid a problem or question instead of dealing with it directly
- Signify: Mean or show something clearly
- Simulate: Copy the way something happens or works, often for practice or testing
- Situate: Place something in a particular position or setting
- Skewer: Push a sharp stick or object through something
- Slander: Say false, harmful things about someone
- Slaughter: Kill an animal (or a person in a violent way)
- Smother: Cover or block something so it cannot breathe, grow, or spread
- Snub: Treat someone in a cold way by ignoring them or acting unfriendly
- Socialize: Spend time with others in a friendly way, or help someone learn social rules
- Solicit: Ask for something, such as help, money, or information
- Solidify: Make something more firm, stable, or certain
- Spearhead: Lead an effort or be the first to drive a plan forward
- Specialize: Focus on one particular area, skill, or type of work
- Specify: State something clearly and in detail
- Speculate: Form ideas or guesses without having full proof
- Spurn: Reject someone or something in a sharp or proud way
- Squander: Waste something valuable, especially time or money
- Stabilize: Make something steady and less likely to change suddenly
- Stagnate: Stop developing or improving; stay at the same level
- Standardize: Make things follow the same rules, form, or quality
- Sterilize: Destroy germs so something is completely clean and safe
- Stigmatize: Mark someone or something as bad or shameful in public opinion
- Stimulate: Encourage something to start, grow, or become more active
- Stipulate: Clearly state a condition or requirement in an agreement
- Stockpile: Collect and store a large amount for future use
- Stratify: Arrange or divide into levels or layers, often in a social system
- Streamline: Make something simpler and more efficient by removing extra steps
- Stultify: Make something seem pointless or ineffective because it is too boring or repetitive
- Stymie: Prevent progress by creating obstacles or confusion
We’re looking for a celebrity to spearhead our new advertising campaign.
He earned a lot from his paintings, but he would squander his earnings on expensive clothes and restaurants.
- Subdivide: Divide something into smaller parts
- Subdue: Bring something under control, often by force or strong effort
- Subject: Cause someone or something to experience something, often unpleasant
- Subjugate: Control and oppress a person or group by force
- Sublimate: Redirect strong feelings into a more acceptable activity
- Submit: Give in to authority or present something for review or approval
- Subordinate: Place someone or something in a lower rank or less important role
- Subpoena: Legally order someone to appear in court or provide documents
- Subscribe: Support an idea or plan
- Subsidize: Support a person, group, or business by giving money, often from the government
- Subsist: Stay alive or continue to exist with only the basic needs
- Substantiate: Provide proof that something is true
- Substitute: Put one thing or person in the place of another
- Subsume: Include something within a larger group or idea
- Subvert: Weaken or destroy something from within, often in a hidden way
- Succor: Give help and support to someone in need
- Succumb: Give in to pressure, illness, or a strong force
- Suffice: Be enough for a particular need or purpose
- Suffocate: Cause someone or something to be unable to breathe
- Suffuse: Spread through something and fill it, like light or color
- Summon: Call someone to come, or call up a feeling or memory
- Superimpose: Place one thing over another so both can be seen together
- Supersede: Take the place of something older or less effective
- Supplant: Replace something by taking its position, often gradually
- Supplicate: Beg humbly and seriously for something
- Suppress: Stop something from being seen, felt, heard, or expressed
- Surmise: Guess something based on what you know or observe
- Surmount: Deal with and overcome a difficulty
- Surpass: Do better than; be greater than
- Surrender: Give up control or stop resisting
- Surveil: Watch someone or something closely, often in secret
- Sustain: Keep something going over time; support and maintain it
- Suture: Stitch a wound closed using a needle and thread
- Symbolize: Represent something as a sign or image
- Sympathize: Understand and share another person’s feelings, especially sadness
- Synchronize: Make things happen at the same time or in the same rhythm
- Synergize: Work together so the combined result is stronger than separate efforts
- Synthesize: Combine parts or ideas into a new whole
- Systemize: Organize something into a clear system or set of steps
It doesn’t need to be a long essay; a couple of pages should suffice.
A growing hope of victory suffused the soldiers, lifting their spirits despite their exhaustion.
Frequently asked questions about verbs that start with S
- What are some irregular verbs that start with S?
-
Frequently used irregular verbs that start with S include:
- Say — said — said
- See — saw — seen
- Send — sent — sent
- Set — set — set
- Sit — sat — sat
- Sleep — slept — slept
- Speak — spoke — spoken
- Spend — spent — spent
- Stand — stood — stood
- Sell — sold — sold
If you need a longer list of irregular verbs that start with S, why not ask QuillBot’s free AI Chat?
- What are some long verbs that start with S?
-
Some long verbs that start with S are:
- Substantiate
- Sensationalize
- Sentimentalize
- Subjectivize
- Substantivize
- Subcategorize
- Superannuate
- Substantialize
QuillBot’s free AI Chat can create lists of words starting with a specific letter.
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Challenger, T. (2026, January 19). 150 Verbs That Start With S | Definitions & Examples. Quillbot. Retrieved January 22, 2026, from https://quillbot.com/blog/word-finder/verbs-that-start-with-s/
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