Words Starting With S
100 wordsS is the workhorse of English word beginnings. It launches everything from simple two-letter words to scientific terminology stretching past twenty characters. Here you'll find thousands of options for word games, vocabulary building, and linguistic exploration.
2-letter words
13-letter words
134-letter words
315-letter words
246-letter words
147-letter words
78-letter words
59-letter words
5Pattern Guide
Insights and recommendations for these words.
The letter S offers remarkable strategic depth across word games, from quick two-letter plays to massive point-scoring compounds.
Vocabulary & Language
Linguistic patterns and usage statistics
S-words benefit from some of English's most productive prefixes: sub-, super-, semi-, and self- all generate vast word families. The prefix schizo- (meaning 'split') anchors many scientific and medical terms, while common suffixes like -ness, -ship, and -tion frequently attach to S-starting roots. This combinatorial flexibility explains why S claims such a large slice of the dictionary.
Total Words
12,039
10.2% of dictionary
Avg Length
8.7 letters
2.8 syllables
Top Scrabble
SCHIZOPHYCEOUS
38 points
Longest Word
SEMIAUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
20 letters
Parts of Speech
With 69% nouns dominating this letter, S-words lean heavily toward naming things rather than describing actions. The 8.7-letter average suggests substantial compound words and technical vocabulary, while S accounts for over 10% of dictionary entries—one of the largest single-letter shares in English.
Middle English dominates S-words, reflecting the everyday vocabulary that survived from medieval Britain. Latin and French contributions cluster in formal and scientific registers, explaining terms like 'sinologue' which traveled from Old Chinese through Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin before landing in English. This layered inheritance shows how S-words entered the language through both daily speech and scholarly borrowing.
Word Games
High-value words for board games
Short (2-4)
Long (8+)
Short (2-4)
Long (8+)
The scoring gap between Scrabble and WWF widens dramatically with S-words containing high-value letters. SKYJACK scores 27 in Scrabble but jumps to 29 in WWF thanks to the boosted J value. SWIZ and SIZY make excellent short plays in both games, though WWF's different letter values mean SIZY drops from 16 to 15 points. For long-word enthusiasts, WWF-exclusive plays like SUBMICROSCOPICALLY can rack up 41 points where Scrabble wouldn't allow them.
Wordle
5-letter words for daily puzzles
Good Starters (E, A, R, S, T)
START and STAND test the common ST- combination while checking different vowels. SPEAK covers three vowels and the frequent SK pairing, making it valuable when you need maximum letter coverage early.
Length Extremes
Longest and shortest valid words
The shortest S-words (SI, SO) survive as fundamental particles of language, while behemoths like SEMIAUTOBIOGRAPHICAL emerge from English's love of stacking prefixes and suffixes onto roots. Scientific terminology particularly inflates word length through Greek-derived combining forms.
Hidden Gems
Rare but valid words to surprise opponents
SADDLEBACK describes a double-sloping roof with a ridge and gables at each end—architectural vocabulary hiding in plain sight. It's also valid in both Scrabble and WWF, offering solid points through common letters. The compound structure (saddle + back) makes it easy to remember once you've encountered it.
Popular crossword answers
Words frequently used in crossword puzzles with common clues.