Verbs That Start With S

546 words Words by letter Checked 9 Oct 2026

These verbs that start with S come from a standard English dictionary used for word games, ranked by how often each word is used in everyday writing. There are 546 verbs starting with S on this page. The 100 most common come first, each with a short meaning, followed by shorter, longer and easier picks and a filter for any ending or length.

S tops the alphabet for verbs on this site, with 546 of them. Many are basic and irregular. See and saw, say and saying, and send and sent show past and present forms side by side, which helps learners spot how verbs change.

Consonant blends are everywhere: st- in start, stop and stand, sp- in speak and spend, and sl- in sleep. Longer examples such as separate, schedule, substitute and surrender are frequent spelling-test words, especially separate, which is often misspelled.

Verbs starting with S: 546
Most used: see
Longest common one: strengthening 13 letters

Most common verbs that start with S

Ranked by how often the word appears in English text. "Type" is the word's main part of speech.

#	Word	Meaning	Type
1	see	perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight	verb
2	say	express in words	verb
3	show	give an exhibition of to an interested audience	verb
4	set	put into a certain place or abstract location	verb
5	start	take the first step or steps in carrying out an action	verb
6	support	give moral or psychological support, aid, or courage to	verb
7	stop	come to a halt, stop moving	verb
8	saying	express in words	verb
9	saw	cut with a saw	verb
10	stay	stay the same; remain in a certain state	verb
11	share	have in common	verb
12	sent	cause to go somewhere	verb
13	save	save from ruin, destruction, or harm	verb
14	stand	be standing; be upright	verb
15	send	cause to go somewhere	verb
16	seem	give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect	verb
17	sign	mark with one's signature; write one's name (on)	verb
18	sleep	be asleep	verb
19	seeing	perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight	verb
20	speak	express in speech	verb
21	sell	exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent	verb
22	spend	pass time in a specific way	verb
23	search	try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of	verb
24	sit	be seated	verb
25	serve	serve a purpose, role, or function	verb
26	separate	act as a barrier between; stand between	verb
27	spread	distribute or disperse widely	verb
28	supply	give something useful or necessary to	verb
29	shut	move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut	verb
30	suggest	make a proposal, declare a plan for something	verb
31	surprise	cause to be surprised	verb
32	shoot	hit with a missile from a weapon	verb
33	survey	consider in a comprehensive way	verb
34	schedule	plan for an activity or event	verb
35	sharing	have in common	verb
36	strike	deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon	verb
37	sub	be a substitute	verb
38	split	separate into parts or portions	verb
39	sat	be seated	verb
40	secure	get by special effort	verb
41	smile	change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure	verb
42	serving	serve a purpose, role, or function	verb
43	seek	try to get or reach	verb
44	switch	change over, change around, as to a new order or sequence	verb
45	seeking	try to get or reach	verb
46	shift	make a shift in or exchange of	verb
47	suppose	express a supposition	verb
48	sing	deliver by singing	verb
49	steam	travel by means of steam power	verb
50	survive	continue to live through hardship or adversity	verb
51	suspect	imagine to be the case or true or probable	verb
52	swear	utter obscenities or profanities	verb
53	smell	inhale the odor of; perceive by the olfactory sense	verb
54	select	pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives	verb
55	suffer	undergo or be subjected to	verb
56	solve	find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of	verb
57	studying	consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning	verb
58	steal	take without the owner's consent	verb
59	signing	mark with one's signature; write one's name (on)	verb
60	spin	revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis	verb
61	settle	settle into a position, usually on a surface or ground	verb
62	scoring	gain points in a game	verb
63	stretch	occupy a large, elongated area	verb
64	swing	move in a curve or arc, usually with the intent of hitting	verb
65	shake	move or cause to move back and forth	verb
66	seal	make tight; secure against leakage	verb
67	slide	move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner	verb
68	sacrifice	endure the loss of	verb
69	stopping	come to a halt, stop moving	verb
70	succeed	attain success or reach a desired goal	verb
71	slip	move stealthily	verb
72	spare	refrain from harming	verb
73	submit	refer for judgment or consideration	verb
74	stays	stay the same; remain in a certain state	verb
75	spy	catch sight of	verb
76	shed	get rid of	verb
77	sue	institute legal proceedings against; file a suit against	verb
78	sink	fall or descend to a lower place or level	verb
79	skip	bypass	verb
80	snap	utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone	verb
81	stole	take without the owner's consent	verb
82	swim	travel through water	verb
83	spreading	distribute or disperse widely	verb
84	shine	be bright by reflecting or casting light	verb
85	substitute	put in the place of another; switch seemingly equivalent items	verb
86	scratch	cause friction	verb
87	shy	start suddenly, as from fright	verb
88	screening	test or examine for the presence of disease or infection	verb
89	stake	put at risk	verb
90	scream	utter a sudden loud cry	verb
91	stamp	walk heavily	verb
92	sang	deliver by singing	verb
93	smash	hit hard	verb
94	surrender	give up or agree to forgo to the power or possession of another	verb
95	scan	examine minutely or intensely	verb
96	scare	cause fear in	verb
97	span	to cover or extend over an area or time period; ,	verb
98	shout	utter in a loud voice; talk in a loud voice (usually denoting characteristic manner of speaking)	verb
99	shook	move or cause to move back and forth	verb
100	sponsor	assume sponsorship of	verb

Positive verbs that start with S

support
secure
smile
succeed
shine
satisfy
salute
stimulate
savvy
simplify
stabilize
suffice
sparkle
surpass
straighten
soothe
subsidize
sweeten
surmount

Short verbs that start with S

see
say
show
set
start
stop
saw
stay
share
sent
save
stand
send
seem
sign
sleep
speak
sell
spend
sit
serve
shut
shoot
sub
split
sat
smile
seek
shift
sing
steam
swear
smell
solve
steal
spin

Long verbs that start with S

substitute
strengthen
strengthening
scheduling
scratching
scattering
supervising
specialize
straighten
streamline
shortening
sympathize
substituting
socializing
synthesize
strangling
specialise
substantiate
scrutinize
standardize
sympathise
synchronize
symbolizing
smattering
socialising
solidifying
squandering
stargazing
splintering
synchronizing

Filter all 546 verbs that start with S

Narrow the full list by ending, letters inside and length. The list updates as you type.

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Questions people ask

How many verbs start with S?

This list has 546 verbs starting with S, taken from a standard word-game dictionary and limited to words that appear in real English text.

What are the most common verbs that start with S?

see, say, show, set, start, support, stop, saying are the most used in everyday English.

What are some long verbs that start with S?

sacrifice, spreading, substitute, screening, surrender.

What are easy verbs that start with S for kids?

see, say, show, set, start, stop are short, everyday examples.

Source: the ENABLE word list (a public-domain dictionary used for word games), ranked by how often each word appears in English text (the open wordfreq project), with short meanings from Princeton WordNet. Offensive words are left out.

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