Slang & Idioms Starting with "S"

279 entries

• Sacked Fired from a job (British)
• Sacked off Rejected, abandoned, cancelled (British slang).
• Safe Goodbye/okay/cool (youth slang).
• Safe travels A well-wish for someone about to travel
• Salt of the earth Good, honest, ordinary working people
• Salty Bitter; upset; resentful.
• Same Here Me too; I agree; I feel the same
• Sapper Military engineer; the lowest rank in Royal Engineers
• Sarnie A sandwich (British)
• Sat nav GPS navigation system in a vehicle.
• Sausage and mash Cash.
• Savage Brutal, cutting, impressively ruthless
• Save for a rainy day To save money for future emergencies or needs
• Saved by the bell Rescued from a difficult situation at the last moment.
• Sawbones Doctor, especially a surgeon (old-fashioned).
• Say What? What did you say?; expressing disbelief
• Scally Young working-class person, often implies trouble-making (Scouse).
• scam fraud or swindle
• Scan Medical imaging—ultrasound, CT, MRI, etc.
• Scapegoat Someone blamed for others' mistakes; a person who takes the fall.
• Scared Stiff Extremely frightened, paralyzed with fear
• Scaredy-cat A person who is easily frightened; a coward.
• scarper run away
• Scatterbrain Someone forgetful or disorganized
• Schlemiel A clumsy or unlucky person (Yiddish-American)
• Schmuck A stupid or contemptible person (Yiddish-American)
• Scone A British baked good similar to an American biscuit
• Scorcher A very hot day.
• Scorching Extremely hot
• Score Twenty pounds.
• Score an own goal To accidentally harm your own side; a self-defeating action.
• Scot-free Without any punishment or negative consequences.
• Scotch Legs.
• Scramble Urgent order for pilots to take off immediately
• Scran Food (British Northern/Military)
• Screamer Powerful, spectacular long-range goal.
• Screaming Expression of extreme amusement or shock.
• screen time time spent looking at screens
• Script Prescription (informal).
• Scrote British slang insult; short for scrotum.
• Scrounger Someone who cadges things from others.
• Scrubs Medical staff uniforms; also the surgical ward or environment.
• Scrummy Delicious
• Scrumpy Strong rough cider (West Country).
• Scumbag A contemptible, despicable person.
• Scunnered Fed up, disgusted, bored (Scottish).
• Seasonal Normal for the time of year.
• See a man about a dog Humorous excuse for going to the toilet (or leaving for any reason).
• see the quack visit the doctor
• See ya A casual way to say 'Goodbye, see you later'
• Seed Money Initial funding for a venture
• Seedy Feeling unwell, especially from a hangover.
• Seeing Red Extremely angry, enraged
• Seeing someone In the early stages of dating, not yet official (British).
• Seething Intensely angry, boiling with rage
• Self-made Having achieved success through own efforts
• Sell like hotcakes To sell very quickly and in large quantities.
• Sellotape clear adhesive tape
• Sending me Making me laugh uncontrollably; finding something hilarious.
• Septic Yank (American).
• Serve To deliver an impressive performance or look; to impress.
• Services A service station on a motorway with food, fuel, and toilets.
• Set piece Free kick, corner, or throw-in—rehearsed plays.
• Set piece coach Specialist coach for corners and free kicks.
• Settee Sofa/couch
• Sewerslide Suicide (phonetic spelling to avoid content moderation).
• Shabby genteel Maintaining respectable appearance despite poverty
• Shade Subtle disrespect or insult; throwing shade.
• Shake hands with the unemployed Humorous Australian euphemism for male urination.
• Shakedown Extortion; a thorough search; or an initial test.
• Shambolic Completely disorganized, chaotic
• Shandy Beer mixed with lemonade (British)
• Shape up or ship out Improve your performance or leave
• Shattered Extremely tired, exhausted
• Shell Out To pay out money, especially reluctantly
• Shell shock Combat trauma; extreme shock or stress
• Sherbert Taxi (cab).
• Shindig Lively party
• Shit Strong swear word meaning excrement; used as expletive or to describe somethi...
• Shite British/Irish variant of shit; also rubbish
• Shithead A contemptible or stupid person.
• Shithouse Player who uses dark arts to frustrate opponents.
• Shocking Terrible, appalling, very bad
• Shoddy Of poor quality, badly made
• Shoot Euphemism for 'shit'; family-friendly exclamation.
• Short A small measure of spirits; a shot.
• Shot in the arm Something that gives encouragement or renewed energy.
• Shout To buy drinks/food for others (Australian)
• show your hand reveal your plans or intentions
• Show-Off Someone who seeks attention.
• Shrinking Violet Excessively shy person
• Sick Excellent, amazing (slang)
• sick as a dog very ill, especially with vomiting
• sick as a parrot extremely disappointed
• sick note doctor's certificate for work absence
• Sick note Doctor's certificate excusing absence from work.
• Sick to Death Extremely tired of something, utterly fed up
• sickbed bed where someone is ill
• Sickie A day off work pretending to be ill.
• Side Arrogance, pretentiousness (Yorkshire).
• Sideboard Dining room storage furniture
• signed off given medical leave from work
• significant other romantic partner
• Silverware Trophies.
• Simp Someone who does too much for someone they like.
• Simpleton A foolish or simple-minded person.
• Sink estate A very run-down housing estate
• Siphon the python To urinate (male, crude Australian)
• Sithee See you, goodbye; also 'see here/look' (Yorkshire).
• Sitrep Situation report; status update
• Sitter Easy chance that should definitely be scored.
• Sitting duck An easy target; someone vulnerable to attack or criticism.
• Situationship Undefined romantic relationship; more than friends, not official.
• Sketchy Suspicious, questionable, untrustworthy
• Skibidi Nonsense word from viral YouTube series; used to describe absurdist internet ...
• Skin and blister Sister.
• Skinny as a rake Extremely thin.
• skint having no money
• Skip Large waste container (dumpster)
• Skittles A traditional pub bowling game.
• Skive To avoid work or responsibilities (British)
• Skiver Someone who avoids work or duty.
• Skiving Avoiding work
• Skullduggery Underhanded dealing, trickery, or dishonest behaviour.
• Slacker Someone who avoids work or effort
• Slag Derogatory British term for a promiscuous woman; to criticize harshly.
• Sláinte An Irish toast meaning 'Health' or 'Cheers'
• Slam dunk A sure thing; a guaranteed success.
• slammer prison
• Slay To do something exceptionally well; to look amazing.
• Sleazebag A sleazy, disreputable, or untrustworthy person.
• Sleazeball A dishonest or slimy person
• Sleep like a log Sleep very deeply and soundly.
• Slide into DMs To send a private message, usually to flirt or make contact.
• Sliding into DMs Sending private message to initiate romantic contact (social media dating).
• Slip road An entrance or exit ramp on a motorway.
• Slippery customer Someone who is evasive or difficult to pin down.
• Sloane Ranger A young upper-class person with particular style
• Slob A lazy, untidy person.
• Sloshed Very drunk; heavily intoxicated.
• Slow fade Gradually reducing contact to end relationship without confrontation.
• Slush Fund Secret fund for improper purposes
• Sly as a fox Very cunning and clever; craftily intelligent.
• Smartass An annoyingly clever or sarcastic person; a know-it-all.
• Smash it To succeed brilliantly or perform excellently.
• Smashed Very drunk; heavily intoxicated.
• Smashed it Did extremely well (British)
• Smashing Wonderful, excellent (British)
• smashing it doing brilliantly
• Smell a rat To suspect something is wrong; to sense deception.
• Smitten Deeply in love or infatuated
• Snack An attractive person.
• SNAFU A mistake or confused situation (military acronym)
• Snail's pace Extremely slow; moving very slowly.
• Snake in the grass A treacherous person; a hidden enemy pretending to be a friend.
• Snakebite A drink mixing lager and cider; sometimes with blackcurrant.
• Snap Packed lunch, food taken to work (Yorkshire/mining).
• Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory To fail when success seemed certain.
• Snatched Looking perfect; flawless appearance.
• Sniffles Minor cold, runny nose (mild illness).
• Snitch An informer; to inform on someone.
• Snob Someone who looks down on those of lower status
• Snog Kiss passionately, make out (British).
• Snooze A light sleep or nap.
• Snowed under Overwhelmed with too much work
• Snug A small, private room or area within a pub.
• So to Speak In a manner of speaking; figuratively
• Social butterfly Someone who is outgoing and moves between social groups easily
• Social climber Someone who cultivates connections to rise in status
• Sod A rude term for a person (British)
• Sod British mild profanity; used in 'sod off,' 'sod it,' 'poor sod.'
• Sod off British way of telling someone to go away; mild swearing.
• Sodding British intensifier; mild expletive similar to 'bloody' or 'damned.'
• Soft day A mild, drizzly day (Irish)
• Something fishy Suspicious; something that doesn't seem right.
• Sore loser Someone who gets angry or bitter when they lose.
• Sort out To organize, fix, or deal with something (British)
• Sorted Arranged, dealt with, all in order
• Sortie A military mission; any outing or expedition
• Sound Good, reliable, okay (British/Irish)
• Sounds Good That's acceptable; I agree with that plan
• Spam Unwanted mass messages; to send excessive messages.
• Spare tyre A roll of fat around the waist.
• Spaz Offensive slang for someone clumsy; derived from spastic.
• Speak of the devil Said when someone you were just talking about appears
• Speak soon A farewell implying you'll talk again soon
• Speaking of Which Relating to what was just mentioned; on that topic
• Speckled hen Ten (pounds).
• spell period of particular weather
• Spend a penny To use the toilet.
• Spend time on the throne Humorous phrase for spending time on the toilet.
• Spewing Very angry or extremely disappointed
• Spice Sweets (Yorkshire).
• Spider sense Intuition that something is wrong; a premonitory feeling.
• Spill the beans To reveal a secret or confidential information
• Spill the tea To share gossip or reveal information
• Spitting Light rain, drizzle.
• Splash Out To spend money extravagantly
• Splashdown Humorous term for defecation.
• Splendid Excellent, magnificent.
• split up end a relationship
• splitting headache severe headache
• Splurge To spend money freely and extravagantly
• Spondulicks Money, cash
• Spot On Exactly right, perfectly accurate
• Spotted dick A traditional British steamed pudding with dried fruit
• Sprog A new recruit; also a child
• Squaddie A low-ranking soldier, especially a private
• Squaddie-proof Made to be very durable; soldier-proof
• Squash A concentrated fruit drink diluted with water (British)
• Squat To defecate; also a squat toilet
• Squeaky bum time The tense final stages of a football season or match.
• Squiffy Slightly drunk; tipsy and cheerful.
• Stag Guard duty; being on watch
• stag do groom's pre-wedding party
• Stag do A bachelor party (British)
• Stan Extremely devoted fan; to be a devoted fan.
• Stand down Relax from alert; withdraw from position
• Stank Tired, worn out (West Country).
• Star A wonderful, helpful person (British)
• Starving Very hungry (British informal)
• Stay in touch A farewell asking someone to keep in contact
• Steal the show To attract the most attention or be the most impressive.
• Steaming Very drunk; heavily intoxicated.
• Steep Expensive, high-priced
• Steve McQueen Unseen; also screen.
• Stick in the Mud Resists change or new ideas
• Sticky fingers A tendency to steal; a thief.
• Sticky wicket A difficult or awkward situation.
• Stifling Oppressively hot and airless
• Stitch-up A conspiracy to frame someone or fix an outcome.
• stitched up tricked or framed
• Stockbroker belt Affluent commuter suburbs
• Stoked Very excited and enthusiastic
• stormer exceptional performance or thing
• Stottie Round flat bread/cake (North East speciality).
• Stout A dark, rich beer; famously exemplified by Guinness.
• Straight from the horse's mouth Information from the most authoritative source.
• Straight Shooter Honest, direct person
• Strain the potatoes Humorous euphemism for urination.
• Strapped Short of money, financially tight
• Strapped for Cash Short of money
• stream watch/listen to content online in real-time
• Streaming Broadcasting live video content online.
• Stressed out Very stressed, overwhelmed by pressure.
• Stressing Worrying excessively, being anxious
• Stressy Easily stressed, prone to anxiety
• stretch prison sentence
• Strike gold To find or achieve something very valuable.
• Striker Attacking player whose main job is scoring goals.
• Stroppy Bad-tempered and argumentative
• struck gold made a valuable discovery or achievement
• Stubborn as a mule Extremely obstinate; refusing to change position.
• Stuffed Very full after eating
• Stunning Extremely beautiful or impressive.
• Sub Substitute player.
• Suburban Conventional, middle-class, unexciting
• Sugar Euphemism for 'shit'; family-friendly exclamation.
• Summat Something (Yorkshire).
• Sunday roast Traditional British Sunday meal of roast meat and vegetables
• Sunny spell A short period of sunshine
• Sup What's up? (casual greeting).
• Superb Excellent, outstanding.
• Supper A light evening meal, or late-night snack (British)
• Sure Thing Certainly; definitely; you're welcome
• Surgery GP's office, doctor's practice (British).
• Sus Suspicious, not trustworthy, questionable
• Suspenders Garter belt straps (NOT braces)
• suss to figure out / suspicious
• Sussed Figured out
• Swamped Overwhelmed with work or tasks
• Sweeney Flying Squad (police).
• Sweetheart Term of endearment
• Sweltering Uncomfortably hot and humid.
• swept off your feet overwhelmed by romantic attention
• Swipe To steal, especially casually or opportunistically.
• swipe right express interest in someone on dating apps
• Swish Impressively stylish, smart, or luxurious
• sync synchronize data across devices