Complete reference
Glossary A–Z
487 BDSM terms defined — from foundational safety frameworks to specific practices. Search, filter by category, or browse by knowledge tier.
13 Bondage Positions
A bondage position is the physical arrangement a restrained person is held in, not the rope, cuffs, or tape that holds them there. The same restraint produces a completely different risk profile depen
ABDL
ABDL (Adult Baby/Diaper Lover) is a fetish and age-regression identity centered on diapers and infantile roleplay, distinct from little space.
Abduction Play
Abduction play is a consensual roleplay scenario simulating kidnapping or capture, built almost entirely on pre-scene negotiation.
Abrasion Play
Abrasion play is sensation play that uses friction and rough texture against skin to create heat, sting, and marked sensation.
Abuse vs BDSM
A practical breakdown of what separates consensual BDSM power exchange from abuse, and the warning signs that something has crossed the line.
Adhesive Bondage
Adhesive bondage restrains a partner using tape or self-adhering wrap, creating firm, contour-hugging restraint that peels away when the scene ends.
Affectionate Domination
Affectionate Domination is a dominance style rooted in warmth, nurturing, and emotional closeness rather than harshness or intensity.
Aftercare
Aftercare is the physical and emotional support provided to all participants following a BDSM scene, addressing the physiological and psychological transition from intense altered states back to ordin
Aftercare Activities
Aftercare activities are the specific physical, emotional, and psychological practices used after BDSM scenes to support recovery, reconnection, and integration, the tangible actions that constitute [
Agalmatophilia
Agalmatophilia is a fetish involving sexual or romantic attraction to statues, dolls, mannequins, or doll-like stillness.
Age Play
Age play in BDSM: CG/L dynamics, little space, age regression, the distinction from anything involving minors, consent, and healthy practice.
Algophilia
Algophilia is a genuine erotic attraction to the sensation of pain itself, distinct from the practice of pain play.
Anal Training
Anal training is the patient, progressive practice of building comfort with anal stimulation through proper sizing, lube, and pacing.
Animal Roleplay in BDSM
Animal roleplay is a form of BDSM roleplay in which one or more participants adopts the persona, mannerisms, and behaviors of an animal, most commonly dogs, ponies, cats, or prey animals. All particip
Animal Roleplay in BDSM
Animal roleplay in BDSM is a form of play where one or both partners take on animal personas for erotic, emotional, or power exchange purposes.
Aphephilia
Aphephilia is sexual arousal from the sensation of touch itself, rather than from a specific act, body part, or object.
Armbinder
A single sleeve of leather or fabric that encases both arms behind the back, locking them together from wrist to elbow or higher.
Armpit Fetish
An armpit fetish is a sexual interest in underarms, often tied to scent, taste, texture, and the vulnerability of exposing a sensitive body part.
Ass Fetish
A sexual fixation on buttocks as a primary source of arousal, often expressed through visual focus, touch, worship, or impact play.
Audience Participation in BDSM
Audience participation in BDSM refers to consensual play scenes conducted in front of observers, where the presence of an audience is an intentional, negotiated element that adds exhibitionistic, voye
Auralism
Auralism is sexual arousal centered on sound, especially the human voice, moans, breathing, or specific auditory triggers.
Authority Roleplay
Authority roleplay casts one partner as a boss, officer, teacher, or other power figure to heighten dominance and submission dynamics.
Ball Busting
Ball busting is the practice of kicking, slapping, or striking the testicles as a high-intensity form of impact-based CBT.
Ball Stretching
Ball stretching uses weights, straps, or rigid devices to pull the scrotum downward for sensation, control, and visual effect.
Balloon Fetish (Looning)
Balloon fetish (looning) is erotic attraction to balloons, including their look, feel, sound, and the tension of inflation or popping.
Bastinado
Bastinado is impact play focused on the soles of the feet, prized for its intensity and historically rooted in corporal punishment.
BDSM
BDSM is the umbrella term for consensual power exchange, impact, restraint, and sensation play built on trust and negotiation.
BDSM Brainwashing
Brainwashing in BDSM is a consensual roleplay of mental conditioning, using repetition, trigger phrases, and trance to reshape a submissive's responses within a scene.
Beating in BDSM
Beating in BDSM is sustained consensual impact across a scene, carrying both physical intensity and significant psychological weight.
Begging Play
A power exchange practice where one partner must ask, plead, or petition for touch, release, or permission.
Being Filmed
Being filmed is arousal from having sex or play recorded, built on explicit agreements about use, storage, and deletion.
Belly Button Fetish
A sexual or sensory fascination with navels, involving looking, touching, licking, or penetration-adjacent stimulation of the belly button.
Belly Riding
Belly riding is a fetish practice where one partner sits, kneels, or applies body weight to another's stomach for pressure and control sensations.
Belt Spanking
Belt spanking is impact play using a folded or doubled leather belt to deliver sharp, stinging strikes to the body.
Bimbofication
Bimbofication is a transformation kink involving exaggerated hyperfeminine persona play, often paired with intelligence-loss fantasy.
Birching
Birching is impact play with a bundle of flexible birch or similar twigs, producing a sharp, stinging, widespread sensation.
Biting in BDSM
Biting in BDSM uses teeth and pressure to deliver sensation, mark territory, and express primal possession between partners.
Blindfold Play
Blindfolds in BDSM: how vision restriction amplifies sensation, types of blindfolds, safety and spatial awareness, and combining blindfolds with other play.
Blood Play
Blood play involves intentional, controlled bloodletting during a scene, carrying serious infection risks that demand strict sanitation protocol.
Body Modification in BDSM
Body modification in BDSM uses piercings, tattoos, brands, or scars as permanent marks of submission, ownership, or D/s commitment.
Body Oil Play
Body oil play uses oil to coat skin for slick, slippery sensation, massage, and wrestling play between partners.
Body Painting
Body painting uses brushes, fingers, or tools to apply paint to a partner's skin as sensation play, artistic display, or ritual.
Body Punching
Body punching is consensual closed-fist impact play targeting muscle-padded areas like the chest, thighs, and upper arms.
Body Worship
Body worship is a devotional BDSM practice where a submissive directs sustained physical attention toward a dominant's body as service.
Body Writing
Body writing is the practice of writing words, labels, or marks on a partner's skin as an expression of ownership or psychological play.
Bondage
Bondage is the consensual use of restraint, rope, cuffs, or other tools to limit a partner's movement for pleasure, control, or trust.
Bondage Fetish
Bondage fetish is attraction to restraint itself, rope, cuffs, chains, tape, as the primary erotic stimulus rather than a tool for other play.
Bondage Furniture
Bondage furniture is specialized equipment designed to position and restrain a partner during BDSM scenes, including St. Andrew's crosses, spanking benches, bondage tables, frames, and saw horses. The
Bondage Mittens
Padded restraints that encase the hands and remove finger dexterity, used in pet play and extended bondage scenes.
Bondage Psychology
Bondage psychology refers to the mental, emotional, and neurological dimensions of consensual restraint, encompassing why being bound or binding another is psychologically compelling, what mental stat
Bondage Safety
Bondage safety encompasses the essential practices, protocols, and anatomical knowledge required to engage in restraint play without causing serious injury. This includes circulation monitoring, nerve
Bondage Sensations
A guide to the physical and psychological sensations of bondage, from rope pressure and warmth to the numbness that signals danger.
Bondage Tape
Bondage tape is a self-adherent PVC or latex film that sticks only to itself, offering beginner-friendly restraint without knots or hair-pulling.
Bonding During BDSM
Bonding during BDSM is the real-time trust, attention, and vulnerability that builds intimacy during a scene, not just after it.
Boot Blacking
Boot blacking is the leather community service ritual of cleaning, conditioning, and polishing boots, often within D/s protocol.
Boot Fetish
Boot fetish in BDSM: types of boots that attract, the power and authority aesthetic of boots, worship practices, care rituals, and partner communication.
Boot Licking
Boot licking is a submissive ritual act combining service, worship, and humiliation, distinct from general boot fetishism.
Brainwashing in BDSM
Brainwashing in BDSM is a consensual psychological roleplay scenario in which one partner enacts themes of mental reprogramming, conditioning, or forced belief change, a fantasy of erasing or rewritin
Branding
Branding is the deliberate creation of a permanent scar through heat, cold, or friction, done as an extreme and irreversible form of body marking.
Brat Play
Brat play is a D/s style where the submissive teases, talks back, and provokes the dominant into 'taming' them within a consensual framework.
Breath Play
Breath play is a category of BDSM edge play involving the deliberate restriction or control of a partner's breathing or oxygen supply. It includes hand breath control, breath holding under direction,
Breeding Kink
Breeding kink eroticises the fantasy of impregnation and internal claiming, expressed through dirty talk, roleplay, or consensual physical practice.
Bull
A bull is the third-party partner who engages with a hotwife or cuckolding couple, a defined role with its own etiquette and boundaries.
Cable Ties in BDSM
Cable ties (zip ties) are occasionally used in BDSM as a restraint tool for the aesthetic or psychological charge of non-releasable binding, but carry significant safety risks due to their non-adjusta
Cake Sitting
Cake sitting is a wet-and-messy fetish practice where someone sits on, crushes, or is covered in cake for sensory and visual pleasure.
Call and Response
A scripted verbal exchange between dominant and submissive, repeated consistently to reinforce roles, obedience, and presence in a D/s dynamic.
Camming
Camming is consensual exhibitionism and voyeurism performed live over webcam, connecting performers and watchers in real time.
Candaulism
Candaulism is sexual arousal from watching or knowing your partner is desired, admired, or intimate with someone else.
Caning in BDSM
Caning is an impact play practice using a cane, typically rattan, bamboo, or synthetic, to deliver concentrated, intense strikes to fleshy, padded body areas. It is one of the most intense forms of im
Cardiophilia
Cardiophilia is sexual or romantic arousal connected to the sound, feel, or rhythm of a partner's heartbeat.
Caregiver Dom
A Caregiver Dom is a dominant partner who leads through nurturing, structure, and care rather than strict or punitive control.
Cattle Play
Cattle play is a primal objectification kink where a submissive takes on the role of livestock, built around herding, milking, and ownership.
CBT (Cock and Ball Torture)
CBT is consensual pain play applied to the male genitals through pressure, impact, stretching, and temperature.
Chain Bondage
Chain bondage uses metal links secured by padlocks or hardware for restraint, weight, and a cold, unyielding sensory experience.
Chastity Belt
A chastity belt is a lockable device that physically prevents genital access or stimulation, used as gear in chastity play.
Chastity in BDSM
Chastity in BDSM is a power exchange dynamic where a keyholder controls a partner's access to orgasm, often enforced with a locked device.
Chastity Key Holding
Chastity key holding is the dynamic where one partner controls access to release, turning a physical lock into an ongoing exercise of trust and power.
Checking In
How to check in during BDSM play: verbal and non-verbal methods, traffic light systems, reading body language, when to pause, and how to resume safely.
Cheirophilia
Cheirophilia is a sexual fascination with hands, where their look, movement, or touch becomes a primary source of arousal.
Choking
Choking is the manual compression of the neck during BDSM play, producing oxygen restriction, altered physiological sensations, and intense psychological intensity. It carries significant neurological
Claw Play
Claw play uses fingernails to scratch, rake, press, and grip skin, delivering primal sensation without any implement between bodies.
Clicker Training
A behavior conditioning method in BDSM that uses a click sound and rewards to shape a partner's responses over time.
Clit and Pussy Torture (CPT)
Clit and Pussy Torture (CPT) is impact, pressure, and sensation play focused on the clitoris and vulva, done within clear limits and aftercare.
Clothespin Zipper
A row of clothespins connected by string or ribbon and ripped off in a single pull for one sharp burst of pain.
Co-Topping
Co-topping is when two dominants or tops work together, in sync, to top a single bottom during a scene.
Cock Milking
Cock milking is the practice of stimulating the penis and often the prostate to produce orgasm or ejaculation with minimal voluntary effort.
Cock Warming
Cock warming is holding a partner's penis inside the mouth, vagina or anus for an agreed stretch of time with no thrusting and no attempt to build toward orgasm. The point is the stillness itself: sus
Cock Worship
Cock worship is the practice of ritualized reverence for a dominant partner's genitals as an act of submission and service. It extends body worship into focused genital veneration, treating the domina
Cold Metal Play
Cold metal play uses chilled steel implements, from wands to blunt blades, to create sharp temperature contrast on the skin without cutting.
Collar and Leash in BDSM
Collar and leash play in BDSM involves using a collar worn by the submissive partner with a leash attached, giving the dominant physical control of movement and direction. It is distinct from collarin
Collaring Ceremony in BDSM
A collaring ceremony is the formal BDSM ritual through which a dominant partner presents a submissive with a collar, signifying an established, committed power exchange relationship, often compared in
Con Drop
Con drop is the emotional and physical crash that follows an intense kink convention or event weekend, often hitting days after you get home.
Consensual Bukkake in BDSM
Consensual bukkake is a negotiated group sexual practice involving one or more individuals receiving ejaculate from multiple partners, practiced within explicit consent frameworks that distinguish it
Consensual Coercion in BDSM
Consensual coercion (also called consensual non-consent or CNC) is the consensual roleplay of scenarios that involve the appearance of force, coercion, or non-consent, negotiated in full detail before
Consensual Gang Bang
A consensual gang bang is a sexual scene in which one person receives sexual activity from multiple partners, with explicit consent from all parties. The receiving person has full agency in negotiatin
Consensual Non-Consent (CNC)
Consensual non-consent (CNC) is a BDSM practice in which partners negotiate and agree in advance to a scene in which one partner acts as though consent is not being given or has been withdrawn, while
Consensual Nude Sharing
Consensual nude sharing is the exchange of nude or explicit images between people who have agreed to send and receive them.
Consensual Watching
Consensual watching is the practice of observing another person or couple's sexual or BDSM activity with the explicit knowledge and agreement of those being watched. It is the foundation of ethical vo
Consent Withdrawal
Consent withdrawal is the right to revoke agreement to any act at any point, even mid-scene, regardless of prior agreement.
Corporal Punishment in BDSM
Corporal punishment in BDSM is the consensual use of physical discipline, spanking, paddling, caning, strapping, typically within a structured power exchange dynamic where punishment has explicit mean
Corset Fetish
Corset fetish is attraction to corsets, the silhouette they create, and the compression and restriction sensations of wearing them.
Cosplay Kink
Cosplay kink is sexual roleplay built around dressing as a fictional character and embodying their persona during play.
Cowification
Cowification is a fetish focused on human-to-cow transformation, centering lactation, milking play, and bovine identity rather than general animal roleplay.
Cratolagnia
Cratolagnia is arousal centered on strength, muscularity, or displays of physical power in a partner.
Creampie Fantasy
Creampie fantasy is a sexual fixation centered on the visual and tactile experience of internal ejaculation and the resulting creampie. It can be practiced with actual internal ejaculation within agre
Crotch Rope
A rope line run between the legs as part of a harness, used to create pressure, sensation, and a visual anchor point.
Crurophilia
Crurophilia is a sexual attraction or fixation centered on legs, often overlapping with stockings, heels, or worship play.
Cuckolding
Cuckolding is a consensual dynamic in which one partner (historically male) derives erotic pleasure from their partner having sex with other people, often with an element of being told about it, watch
Cuckquean
A cuckquean is a woman who finds arousal in her partner having sex with another woman, the female counterpart to cuckolding.
Cuddle Time
Why physical closeness matters after BDSM: how touch supports neurological recovery, individual preferences for cuddling, alternatives for touch-averse partners.
Cuff Restraint in BDSM
Cuff restraints are purpose-made BDSM tools, typically bands of metal, leather, or fabric, that encircle the wrists, ankles, or other limbs to create secure, comfortable restraint with built-in attach
Cum on Command
Cum on Command is a power exchange practice where a submissive is trained or tasked to orgasm on a dominant's verbal cue.
Cum Play
Cum play is sexual activity involving the intentional handling, display, or application of semen as part of erotic play. It encompasses snowballing, facial play, body application, swallowing, and rela
Cunt Busting
Cunt busting is consensual impact play directed at the vulva and genitals, the vulva-owner parallel to ball busting.
Cupping Play
Cupping play uses vacuum suction cups on the skin to create intense pulling sensation and visible circular marks.
D/s Contract
A written agreement outlining roles, rules, limits, and review periods for a Dominant/submissive relationship.
D/s Rituals
D/s rituals are repeated symbolic acts, like specific greetings or bedtime routines, that reinforce roles and strengthen a power exchange dynamic.
Dacryphilia
Dacryphilia is sexual or emotional arousal from tears or crying, often woven into humiliation or intense emotional play.
Daisy Chain
A daisy chain is a group arrangement where each participant pleasures one person while being pleasured by another, forming a connected chain or circle.
Day Collar
A discreet collar or piece of jewelry worn publicly as an ongoing symbol of a D/s relationship.
DDLG & CGL
DDLG and CGL are caregiver/little dynamics built on nurturing dominance, structure, and a regressed headspace called little space.
Decorative Bondage
Explore decorative bondage: rope as wearable art, harness designs, aesthetic patterns, and how beauty-focused bondage differs from functional restraint.
Degradation in BDSM
Degradation in BDSM is the consensual practice of treating a partner as lower in status, worth, or dignity, through words, acts, or treatment, as part of a power exchange dynamic. The person being deg
Denim Fetish
Denim fetish is a sexual or sensory attraction to jeans and denim fabric, rooted in texture, fit, and association.
Dirty Talk in BDSM
Dirty talk in BDSM uses spoken language as a deliberate erotic tool to build sensation, reinforce dynamics, and shape scenes.
Discipline in BDSM
Discipline in BDSM refers to the structures, protocols, and corrective practices that a dominant uses to maintain order and expectations within a D/s relationship. When a submissive fails to meet agre
Disobedience Play
Disobedience play is the deliberate act of breaking rules or defying instructions to provoke a dominant's response within a scene.
Dollification
Dollification is a psychological and physical kink where a person is treated, styled, and controlled as if they were a living doll.
Domestic Discipline (DD)
Domestic Discipline is a lifestyle framework where partners agree to household rules enforced through structured consequences and accountability.
Dominance
Dominance is the trait or energy of taking control in a BDSM dynamic, expressed through leadership, discipline, nurture, or command.
Domspace
Domspace is the focused, heightened headspace a dominant enters during a scene, often marked by tunnel vision and reduced self-monitoring.
Doraphilia
Doraphilia is a fetish centered on the material sensation and look of fur or animal pelts, not animal personas.
Double Column Tie
A non-collapsing rope cuff that binds two limbs, or a limb to a post, without tightening under pressure.
Double Penetration
Double penetration is the practice of penetrating two orifices at once, using bodies, toys, or partners, with consent and care.
Dronification
Dronification is a psychological fetish centered on roleplaying the loss of identity and will, becoming a mindless, obedient drone.
Dungeon Etiquette
Dungeon etiquette is the shared code of conduct for play spaces covering consent, watching, gear, and cleanup.
Ebi (Shrimp Tie)
Ebi, or shrimp tie, is a Japanese floor bondage position that folds the body forward, drawing the head down toward the knees.
Edgeplay
Edgeplay is the umbrella term for BDSM activities carrying real risk of injury or death, requiring extra skill, trust and risk-awareness.
Edging in BDSM
Edging means bringing a partner to the brink of orgasm and stopping, repeatedly, to build intense arousal and power exchange.
Electrical Play in BDSM
Electrical play uses devices like TENS units and violet wands to create tingling, buzzing, or sharp sensations through controlled electrical current.
Emotional Connection in BDSM
Emotional connection in BDSM refers to the genuine intimacy, trust, and mutual care between kink partners, the relational foundation that makes intense, vulnerable BDSM experiences safe, meaningful, a
Emotional Safewords
A distinct signal used to flag emotional overwhelm during a scene, separate from the stop word used for physical pain or injury.
Endorphin High
Endorphin high is the natural, opioid-driven rush of euphoria and pain relief the body produces during intense sensation play.
Energy Play
Energy play creates physical sensation through proximity, breath, and focused attention rather than direct physical contact.
Enthusiastic Consent
Enthusiastic consent is an active, freely given yes to a specific activity, not merely the absence of refusal.
Erotic Asphyxiation
Erotic asphyxiation is deliberately restricting oxygen during sex for altered sensation. It carries serious, sometimes fatal, risks.
Erotic Hypnosis
Erotic hypnosis is the use of hypnotic trance and suggestion to create arousal, submission, or altered states during kink play.
Erotic Pain in BDSM
Erotic pain is the experience of physical pain signals being processed as pleasurable, arousing, or psychologically compelling within a consensual BDSM context, a phenomenon with documented neurologic
Erotic Performance
Erotic performance is the deliberate act of playing out sexual or kink scenes for an audience, whether live at a club or event, or streamed online.
Erotic Wrestling
Erotic wrestling is consensual physical grappling for dominance or arousal, governed by agreed rules and tap-out signals.
Exhibitionism Fantasy
Exhibitionism fantasy is the desire to be seen or watched during sex or play, ranging from private imagination to consensual real-world display.
Exhibitionist Kink
Exhibitionist kink is the arousal that comes from being seen, watched, or exposed, whether in public, semi-public, or online settings.
Exhibitionist Partner
Guide to being the watcher when your partner is the exhibitionist: how to observe actively and build a sustained dynamic.
Exposure Play in BDSM
Exposure play is the consensual BDSM practice of deliberately revealing or displaying the body, through undressing, nudity, forced exposure, or display scenarios, where the act of being seen and the v
Feather Play
Feather play uses feathers and soft materials to deliver barely-there touch that teases, soothes, or maddens depending on context.
Feederism
Feederism is a fetish where arousal centers on feeding, weight gain, or body fullness, often within a feeder/feedee dynamic.
Femdom
Femdom is a BDSM dynamic where a woman holds the dominant role, spanning everything from playful teasing to total control.
Feminization
Feminization is a psychological and roleplay practice where a submissive is dressed, trained, or treated as more feminine as a form of power exchange.
Feral Play in BDSM
Feral play in BDSM refers to the consensual expression of a wildly untamed psychological state, beyond domesticated social conditioning, characterized by instinct-driven response, uninhibited physical
Figging
Figging uses a peeled piece of ginger root inserted anally or vaginally to create an intense, building burning sensation.
Financial Domination (Findom)
Financial domination (findom) is a BDSM power exchange dynamic in which the submissive partner — the "pay pig" or financial submissive — derives arousal and submission from giving money, gifts, or
Fire Play
Fire play is an advanced BDSM sensation practice using flame and heat to create visual spectacle and intense warmth or flash sensations on the skin. Techniques include fire wands, burning alcohol appl
Fisting
Fisting is the act of inserting most or all of the hand into a partner's vagina or anus. It is an advanced practice that requires extensive preparation, significant arousal, generous lubrication, pati
Flashing
Flashing as BDSM play: the difference between consensual and non-consensual exposure, legal context, safe consensual enactment, and ethical frameworks.
Flogging
Flogging is the consensual practice of striking a partner with a flogger, a multi-tailed impact implement, in BDSM. It ranges from gentle, sensual strokes to intense impact and is one of the most wide
Foot Fetish
Foot fetish is erotic attraction to feet, the most common body part fetish. In BDSM contexts, foot fetish is often expressed through foot worship, service rituals, trampling, and the use of feet in po
Foot Fetish in BDSM
Foot fetish is erotic fixation on feet, common in BDSM as worship, submission, or sensory play within power exchange scenes.
Foot Worship
Foot worship is a devotional BDSM practice where a submissive serves, adores, and attends to a dominant partner's feet.
Forced Bi
Forced bi, short for forced bisexuality, is a consensual power-exchange scenario in which a Dominant directs a submissive into sexual contact with someone of the same gender, or into acting it out wit
Forced Gagging
Forced gagging is deliberately triggering the gag reflex during oral or throat play as an intensity and fear-based BDSM technique.
Forced Orgasm
Forced orgasm is consensual psychological play where the submissive surrenders orgasm control, often through prolonged or repeated stimulation.
Forniphilia
Forniphilia is the practice of posing a bound person as functional furniture, blending extreme bondage with deep objectification.
Free Use
Free use is a consensual BDSM dynamic in which one partner grants the other ongoing sexual access without requiring explicit per-encounter consent. All parameters are negotiated in advance — what's
Frogtie
A frogtie is a bondage position that binds each ankle to the same-side thigh, holding the legs folded in a frog-like shape.
Full Body Restraint
Full body restraint encompasses bondage practices that restrict movement across multiple body regions simultaneously, including straitjackets, body bags, spreader bars with wrist cuffs, full rope conf
Funishment
Funishment is a playful, pleasurable form of mock punishment used for enjoyment rather than genuine behavioral correction.
Furry Fetish
Furry fetish covers the erotic subset of anthropomorphic animal interests, including fursonas, fursuits, fur textures, and species-specific attraction.
Futomomo
Futomomo is a rope tie that binds a bent leg thigh-to-calf, often used for display, floor ties, and partial suspension.
Gag in BDSM
A gag is a device placed in or over the mouth to restrict or muffle speech during BDSM play. Gags are among the most widely used pieces of BDSM equipment, valued for the vulnerability and helplessness
Gas Mask Fetish
A fixation on gas masks for their imposing look, muffled voice effect, and the controlled breath-restriction sensation they create.
Glasses Fetish
A glasses fetish is a sexual attraction to eyewear or the people who wear it, often tied to roleplay and persona.
Gloryhole
A gloryhole is a hole cut into a wall or partition that allows anonymous sexual contact between people who can't see each other.
Glove Fetish
Glove fetish is attraction to gloves, their material, and the specific touch quality of a hand mediated through a thin barrier.
Gorean Lifestyle
A structured master/slave lifestyle rooted in John Norman's Gor novels, built around fixed gender roles, submission protocols, and hierarchy.
Group Bondage in BDSM
Group bondage is the consensual practice of restraining multiple people simultaneously in a coordinated scene, whether multiple bottoms tied by one or more riggers, or partners tied to each other, cre
Group Domination
Group domination is a scene where multiple dominants share control over a single submissive, requiring tighter coordination than solo play.
Group Sex Play
Group sex play in BDSM refers to consensual sexual activity involving three or more participants. It encompasses a range of configurations from threesomes to larger group scenes and requires multi-par
Group Submission in BDSM
Group submission is the consensual practice of a submissive engaging with multiple dominant partners simultaneously, either in a scene context or in an ongoing power exchange structure, creating a dyn
Group Worship
Group Worship is a BDSM scene where multiple submissives collectively direct physical and verbal adoration toward one or more dominant partners.
Growling in Primal BDSM
Growling, snarling, hissing, and whimpering are core primal BDSM sounds. Here's what they mean and how vocalization drives the state.
Hair Fetish (Trichophilia)
Hair fetish, or trichophilia, is erotic attraction to hair as visual, tactile, sensory, and symbolic stimulus.
Hair Pulling
Hair pulling is the act of gripping and pulling a partner's hair as an expression of physical dominance during BDSM play. It produces pain, intense scalp sensation, and a physical control element —
Hair Removal
Hair removal as BDSM ritual uses shaving or waxing to express ownership, service, and control between partners.
Hair Tie Bondage
A bondage technique that uses braided or bundled hair, secured with rope or cord, to control head position and movement.
Hairbrush Spanking
Hairbrush spanking is impact play using the flat back of a hairbrush to deliver a sharp, stinging, concentrated sensation to the buttocks.
Hand Breath Control
A high-risk sensation practice where one partner uses their hands to briefly restrict the other's breathing through the nose, mouth, or both.
Hand Feeding
Hand feeding is a nurturing BDSM ritual where one partner feeds another by hand, building trust through caregiver or service dynamics.
Handcuffs in BDSM
BDSM handcuffs explained: types from fuzzy to police-grade, double-locking, nerve safety, and how to use them well.
Hard Limits & Soft Limits in BDSM
Hard limits are activities a person will not engage in under any circumstances — absolute boundaries that cannot be negotiated away or pushed through during a scene. Soft limits are activities the p
Hardpoint
A hardpoint is the rated structural anchor, in a ceiling, beam, or rig, that bears a suspended person's full weight.
Heat Sensation Play
Heat sensation play uses controlled warmth above skin temperature to create erotic sensation, from soothing to attention-grabbing.
Hidden Viewing in BDSM
Hidden viewing in BDSM is the consensual roleplay of secret observation, where one partner enacts watching another who is (in the fiction) unaware of being observed, creating the psychological dynamic
Hip Harness
A rope harness wrapped around the hips and thighs, used to spread suspension load or add decorative shape to a bondage tie.
Hobble Bondage
Hobble bondage limits a person's stride or mobility while still allowing them to move, creating controlled, visible restriction.
Hogtie
The hogtie binds wrists to ankles behind the body, creating total immobilization and a specific quality of helplessness that requires careful safety planning.
Hojojutsu
Hojojutsu is the feudal Japanese martial art of restraining captives with rope, the historical ancestor of kinbaku and shibari.
Honorifics
Honorifics are titles like Sir, Ma'am, Master, or Mistress used to verbally mark and reinforce a D/s power dynamic.
Hotwifing
A consensual dynamic where a husband takes pride in and encourages his wife's sexual encounters with others, free of humiliation.
Humiliation in BDSM
Humiliation in BDSM is the consensual inducing of embarrassment, shame, or perceived lowered status in one partner by the other, within explicit negotiated limits. It is a form of psychological play t
Humiliation Psychology
The psychology behind why consensual humiliation can feel freeing instead of painful, and how it differs from real emotional abuse.
Hunting Roleplay
Hunting roleplay is a BDSM [primal play](/kink-codex/primal-instinct/primal-scene/) scenario in which one partner plays a hunter and the other plays hunted prey, human or animal-persona. It combines t
Hyperventilation Play
Hyperventilation play uses guided rapid breathing to create tingling, lightheadedness, and altered states through CO₂ reduction.
Ice Play
Ice play uses ice cubes and cold to create sharp, attention-demanding sensations on warm skin during BDSM scenes.
Impact Play
Impact play is the broad category of consensual BDSM practices involving striking the body, spanking, flogging, paddling, caning, and more. Ranging from gentle to intense, impact play requires negotia
Impact Play Safety
Impact play safety is the applied knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and technique required to engage in consensual striking without causing unintended serious injury. It encompasses safe target zones,
Inflation Kink
Inflation kink is arousal from body inflation, expressed mostly through fantasy, art, and simulated play rather than actual physical inflation.
Informed Consent
Informed consent means agreeing to an activity only after genuinely understanding its risks, not just agreeing in the moment.
Inspection Play
Inspection play is a structured D/s ritual where a dominant examines a submissive's appearance, posture, and compliance with set standards.
Intensity Negotiation in BDSM
Intensity negotiation is the pre-scene and ongoing communication process through which BDSM partners establish agreed-upon intensity levels for physical and psychological practices, covering hard and
Interrogation Play
Interrogation play is a negotiated BDSM roleplay where one partner questions and pressures another within pre-agreed limits and scripts.
Intimacy Negotiation in BDSM
Intimacy negotiation is the deliberate communication between BDSM partners about the level, type, and boundaries of emotional and relational closeness they want in their partnership, establishing shar
Karada
Karada is a decorative Japanese rope harness that wraps the torso in a diamond or hexagon pattern, often used as a base for further bondage.
Katoptronophilia
Katoptronophilia is sexual arousal connected to mirrors, particularly from watching oneself or a partner during sex.
Kennel Confinement
Kennel confinement is the practice of placing a submissive in a cage or kennel for restraint, discipline, or pet play immersion.
Kinbaku
Kinbaku is the Japanese art of erotic rope binding, focused on beauty, emotional exchange, and connection between rigger and partner.
Kink Mentor
A kink mentor is an experienced practitioner who guides a newcomer through BDSM knowledge, safety, and community, within clear ethical boundaries.
Kink-Aware Professionals
Kink-aware professionals are healthcare, mental health, and legal providers trained to serve BDSM practitioners without judgment or misdiagnosis.
Kitten Play
Kitten play is a feline-inspired pet play dynamic featuring kitten space, selective affection, and a rich gear aesthetic.
Klismaphilia
Klismaphilia is sexual arousal connected to enemas, whether receiving them, giving them, or both.
Kneeling
Kneeling is a submissive position used in BDSM as a ritual act, a service posture, and a visible marker of power exchange.
Knife Play
Knife play is a BDSM edge play practice using knives, blades, or sharp-edged implements as sensation tools on a partner's skin — typically without cutting, using the flat of the blade, the spine, or
Lactation Play
Lactation play centers breast milk and nursing dynamics as an erotic focus, ranging from roleplay to actual induced lactation.
Latex Fetish
Latex fetish is erotic attraction to latex, the material, its appearance, smell, and the physical sensation of wearing it. In BDSM, latex features heavily in enclosure, restriction, and aesthetic cont
Leather Fetish
Leather fetish is erotic attraction to leather as a material, its smell, texture, visual appearance, and the cultural associations of leather within BDSM and its communities. Leather has deep historic
Leather Restraints
Leather restraints are padded, buckle-closing cuffs and harnesses used for adjustable, quick-release bondage in BDSM play.
Leggings Fetish
A leggings fetish is a strong attraction to leggings or yoga pants, driven by their fit, texture, and the way they display the body.
Lift and Carry (L&C)
Lift and Carry (L&C) is arousal tied to being physically lifted, held, or carried, often centered on strength and body control.
Limb Encasement
Limb encasement wraps an arm or leg fully in material, typically bondage tape, latex, bandages, or fabric, creating immobilization through compression and coverage. The enclosed limb loses normal acce
Lingerie Display
Lingerie display is the practice of showing off lingerie to a partner or audience as a form of mild, consensual exhibitionism.
Lipstick Fetish
A lipstick fetish is a fixation on lipstick itself: the application ritual, the color and texture, and the marks it leaves on skin.
Little Space
Little space is the soft, regressed mental state a little enters during caregiver/little dynamics, often marked by playfulness and reduced adult responsibility.
Macrophilia
Macrophilia is a fetish centered on size difference fantasy, attraction to giants, giantesses, or being shrunk relative to a partner.
Maid Roleplay
Maid roleplay blends costume, protocol, and literal household tasks into a service-based submission dynamic between partners.
Maintenance Scenes
Maintenance scenes are scheduled, regular BDSM scenes conducted to maintain the power dynamic, reinforce roles, and provide structure — not in response to infractions or specific events. Also called
Maledom
Maledom is a BDSM dynamic where a man holds the dominant role in a consensual power exchange with one or more partners.
Marking
Marking is impact play done specifically to leave visible bruises or marks, treating them as the goal rather than a byproduct.
Masculinization
Masculinization is a psychological play practice where a submissive is shaped into a more masculine persona through coaching, speech, and behavior training.
Mask and Hood Fetish
A fetish focused on masks and hoods as erotic objects, drawing arousal from covered faces, anonymity, and transformation.
Masochism
Masochism is the consensual experience of pleasure from receiving pain, humiliation, or intense sensation.
Master/Slave Dynamic (M/s)
The master/slave (M/s) dynamic is a form of total power exchange (TPE) in BDSM in which one partner (the slave) consensually surrenders extensive or near-total authority over their life and decisions
Medical Fetish in BDSM
Medical fetish is erotic attraction to medical settings, instruments, procedures, roles, or clinical aesthetics, expressed in BDSM through doctor-patient roleplay, medical equipment use, uniform play,
Menophilia
Menophilia is a fetish or kink involving sexual arousal connected to menstrual blood and the menstrual cycle.
Mesmerism in BDSM
Mesmerism in BDSM refers to hypnotic or trance-based consensual play, practices involving guided relaxation, focused attention, and suggestive techniques to produce altered mental states in a willing
Metal Fetish
Metal fetish is attraction to the weight, sound, temperature, and authority of metal objects, especially steel cuffs, chains, collars, and locks.
Microphilia
Microphilia is a sexual interest in people depicted or imagined as tiny or shrunken, usually explored through fantasy, roleplay, or media.
Mind Control Fantasy in BDSM
Mind control in BDSM refers to consensual fantasy play involving scenarios where one partner enacts control over the other's thoughts, will, or behavior, a negotiated psychological power exchange wher
Mirror Watching
Mirror watching is using mirrors during sex or BDSM play to watch yourself and your partner, blending exhibitionism and voyeurism in the same moment.
Mommy Domme
A Mommy Domme leads with nurturing authority, blending maternal warmth and firm control rather than cold command.
Monster Fetish
Monster fetish is sexual or romantic attraction to fictional non-human creatures, monstrous anatomy, or monster-themed roleplay and toys.
Mummification in BDSM
Mummification is a bondage practice in which a person's body is wrapped, fully or nearly fully, in material such as plastic wrap, bandages, rope, or tape, creating near-total physical restriction and
Munch
A munch is a casual, non-sexual public gathering where kink community members meet socially, usually over food.
Muscle Worship
Muscle worship is devotional attraction to muscularity, expressed through touch, admiration, flexing, and physical service to a muscular partner.
Mysophilia
Mysophilia is a fetish centered on arousal from dirtiness, filth, or soiled materials rather than cleanliness.
Name Calling
Name calling in BDSM is the use of specific names, labels, or terms of address as part of power exchange or humiliation play. It ranges from affectionate pet names that reinforce submission to deliber
Nasophilia
Nasophilia is a fetish centered on noses, their shape, size, or nasal sounds and acts, as a source of arousal.
Naturism and Kink
The distinction between naturism, a non-sexual lifestyle built on nudity, and exhibitionism, where nudity is the kink itself.
Neck Biting
Neck biting is a primal dominance and claiming gesture that carries real anatomical risk from nearby arteries, veins, and nerves.
Neck Fetish
A neck fetish is a strong erotic focus on the neck, from kissing and biting to gripping, often tied to vulnerability and trust.
Needle Play
Needle play is a BDSM edge play practice involving the temporary insertion of hypodermic or acupuncture needles through skin for sensation, aesthetic, and psychological intensity. It is a practice tha
Nerve Damage Prevention in Bondage
Nerve damage prevention encompasses the anatomical knowledge and safe practices required to avoid nerve compression injuries during bondage, one of the most serious injury risks in restraint play. Spe
Nettle Play
Nettle play uses stinging nettle leaves brushed or pressed against skin to create a lingering burning, tingling sensation.
Nipple Play & Nipple Clamps
A practical guide to nipple play and clamps in BDSM: techniques, clamp types, intensity, and safe practice.
Non-Sexual Kink
Non-sexual kink is power exchange, service, or discipline practiced for its own psychological reward, without sexual activity attached.
Numbness Play
Numbness play uses temporary, deliberate loss of sensation in specific body areas to heighten awareness when feeling returns.
Nylon Fetish
Nylon fetish is a sexual or sensory attraction to nylon fabric itself, not just the garments typically made from it.
Nyotaimori & Nantaimori
Nyotaimori (female) and nantaimori (male) are practices where sushi or other food is served on a nude body as a shared sensory and visual experience.
Obedience Training
Obedience training is the practice of shaping a submissive's behavior and responses through repeated instruction, consequence, and reward.
Objectification
Objectification is consensual BDSM play where a submissive is treated as an object, like furniture or a doll, instead of a person.
Oculophilia
Oculophilia is a fetish or fixation on eyes, including their appearance, eye contact, and sometimes eye-licking play.
Odontophilia
Odontophilia is a fetish centered on teeth, from admiration and biting to fang fantasy and dental imagery.
Olfactophilia
Olfactophilia is a fetish or kink centered on arousal from specific scents, like sweat, worn clothing, or perfume.
Omorashi
Omorashi is the arousal that comes from desperately needing to urinate and holding it, distinct from the act of wetting itself.
One-Sided Nudity
One partner fully dressed while the other is nude, a simple visual imbalance used to communicate power, exposure, and status in a scene.
Onychophilia
Onychophilia is a fetish centered on fingernails or toenails, including their length, polish, texture, or use in scratching play.
Orgasm Control
Orgasm control is the dominant practice of deciding whether, when, and how a partner achieves orgasm — a broader concept than orgasm denial alone. Where denial focuses on withholding, orgasm control
Orgasm Denial
Orgasm denial is a power exchange practice where one partner controls if, when, and how the other is allowed to orgasm.
Orgasm Gifting
Orgasm gifting is the dominant act of granting a partner permission to orgasm as an explicit reward or gift — framing the orgasm as something deliberately bestowed rather than simply permitted. It i
Orgy and BDSM
An orgy in BDSM context is a consensual multi-partner sexual gathering where multiple people engage in sexual and/or kink activity simultaneously, often incorporating BDSM power dynamics, play practic
Outdoor Play in BDSM
Outdoor play is BDSM or sexual activity practiced in outdoor settings. The appeal includes the exhibitionistic thrill of exposure risk, the specific sensory environment of nature, and for some the sen
Over-the-Knee (OTK) Spanking
Over-the-knee spanking is a position where one partner is draped across the other's lap for spanking, blending physical control with intimacy.
Pack Dynamics
Pack dynamics are group primal or pup play structures using alpha, beta and omega roles to organize hierarchy and belonging.
Paddle
A paddle is a flat impact implement that delivers focused, heavy sensation. Used in spanking, punishment, and impact scenes.
Pain Slut
A pain slut is someone who self-identifies as strongly craving pain during play, often seeking intensity itself as the goal.
Pain Tolerance in BDSM
How pain tolerance works in BDSM: warm-up physiology, factors that affect tolerance, building tolerance over time, and why tolerance isn't the goal.
Panty Sniffing
Panty sniffing is a fetish act built around arousal from the scent of worn underwear, distinct from general underwear attraction.
Pantyhose Fetish
Pantyhose fetish is erotic attraction to hosiery , the look, texture, and sensation of nylon on legs.
Partialism
Partialism is a strong sexual attraction centered on one specific body part rather than the body as a whole.
Partner Swapping in BDSM & Lifestyle
Partner swapping is the consensual practice of couples or partners exchanging sexual partners with another couple or couples, typically within swinger or lifestyle communities, with explicit mutual ag
Partner Vetting
Partner vetting is the process of checking a potential partner's references, reputation, and boundaries before engaging in BDSM play.
Peep Show
A peep show is a paid viewing setup where a performer is watched through a window or booth, the commercial ancestor of voyeurism kink.
Pegging
Pegging is anal penetration of a partner using a strap-on, blending role reversal, prostate pleasure, and psychological power exchange.
Permission Protocol
A D/s protocol where the submissive must ask permission for everyday acts, turning small moments into reminders of the power exchange.
Pet Play in BDSM
Pet play is a form of BDSM roleplay in which one partner takes on the role of a domesticated or semi-domesticated animal — most commonly a kitten, puppy, or pony — while the other acts as owner, h
Petplay Training
Petplay training is the structured process of training a submissive partner to adopt and maintain a pet persona — puppy, kitten, pony, or other animal archetype — through consistent reinforcement,
Pinch Play
Pinch play uses fingers or small tools to create sharp, localized pinching sensation, a controllable entry point into pain play.
Pinning
Pinning is using your body weight and hands to hold a partner in place, relying on strength and control instead of restraints.
Play Party
An organized event where BDSM and kink play happens in a shared social space, governed by house rules and consent etiquette.
Play Piercing
Play piercing is the temporary insertion of sterile needles into the skin for sensation, ritual, and endorphin release, then removed after the scene.
Pleasure Dom
A pleasure dom is a dominant who exerts control by overwhelming a partner with pleasure rather than pain or punishment.
Plushophilia
Plushophilia is a fetish centered on erotic attraction to stuffed animals or plush toys, distinct from furry roleplay or costuming.
Pole Dancing Kink
Pole dancing kink is the eroticized performance of pole dance as a deliberate act of display for an audience.
Polycule
A polycule is a network of people connected through romantic or sexual relationships, often mapped like a web of overlapping partners.
Pony Play
Pony play is human-to-horse roleplay using tack, harnesses, and training rituals to embody equine behavior and movement.
Post-Orgasm Torture
Post-orgasm torture is continued stimulation after climax, exploiting extreme post-orgasm sensitivity to turn pleasure into overwhelming sensation.
Posture Collar
A tall, rigid collar that locks the neck straight and limits head movement, used for restraint, display, and discipline.
Power Exchange
Power exchange is the consensual transfer of authority and control from one partner (the submissive) to another (the dominant) in a BDSM relationship or scene. Power exchange can be limited to specifi
Power Neutral
Power neutral describes a relationship or scene structure where partners deliberately avoid dominant/submissive roles.
Praise Kink
Praise kink is sexual or emotional arousal triggered by verbal affirmation, approval, and encouragement during intimate play.
Predator/Prey
Predator/prey is a primal BDSM dynamic built around genuine pursuit, evasion, and capture between hunter and hunted.
Predicament Bondage
Predicament bondage creates tied configurations where the bottom must actively choose between competing discomforts with no neutral rest position.
Pregnancy Fetish
A pregnancy fetish is sexual arousal centered on pregnancy, whether a real pregnant body, roleplay, or visual fantasy.
PRICK
PRICK is a consent framework built around personal responsibility and informed choice, rather than a checklist of 'safe' activities.
Primal Aggression in BDSM
Primal aggression in BDSM is the consensual expression of aggressive instincts, dominance behaviors, physical forcefulness, territorial claiming, and instinct-driven intensity, enacted within negotiat
Primal Scene in BDSM
A primal scene in BDSM is a complete, structured encounter designed around primal and instinctual play, incorporating elements like chase, wrestling, animalistic behavior, raw power expression, and no
Primal Space
Primal space is the instinct-driven headspace in primal play where conscious thought and language give way to raw, animal reaction.
Prostate Play
Prostate play is internal stimulation of the prostate gland through the rectum, producing deep pressure-based pleasure and intense orgasms.
Protocol
Protocol is a structured set of behaviors, rules, and rituals that reinforce power exchange dynamics in BDSM relationships.
Psychological Play
Psychological play is BDSM that targets the mind through power, words, fear, or fantasy rather than physical sensation.
Public Awareness in BDSM
Public awareness in BDSM refers to the responsible management of how BDSM activity is visible in public or semi-public contexts, including legal awareness, impact on non-consenting bystanders, venue-s
Public Bondage
Public bondage refers to the practice of consensual restraint conducted in contexts where it may be visible, including BDSM clubs, lifestyle events, or general public spaces, combining the physical an
Public Exposure in BDSM
Public exposure in BDSM refers to consensual nakedness or intimate display in semi-public or controlled settings, the practice of being physically revealed in spaces beyond private rooms, within caref
Public Play in BDSM
Public play in BDSM refers to engaging in BDSM scenes in spaces shared with others, typically at BDSM clubs, dungeons, play parties, or kink events. It is distinct from actual public space (where non-
Punishment Scenes
Punishment scenes are structured BDSM scenes enacted specifically in response to a rule violation or transgression within a consensual power exchange dynamic. They are distinguished from maintenance s
Pup Handler
A pup handler is the human role in pup play who trains, directs, and cares for a pup, holding the dominant side of the dynamic.
Pup Mosh
A pup mosh is a social gathering where multiple pups play together in headspace, often involving wrestling, toys, and pack bonding.
Puppy Play
Puppy play is a pet play style drawing on canine behavior: enthusiasm, loyalty, play drive, and the joy of training and praise.
Pussy Spanking
Pussy spanking is direct impact play applied to the vulva, a genital-specific technique with its own risk profile and pacing rules.
Pussy Worship
Pussy worship is the practice of ritualized reverence for a partner's vulva/vagina as an act of submission and service. An extension of body worship focused on genital veneration, it is most commonly
PVC Fetish
A PVC fetish is attraction to shiny, glossy vinyl clothing, prized for its visual shine, tight fit, and squeaky texture.
Queening/Facesitting
Queening, also called facesitting, is a BDSM practice where the dominant partner sits on or over the submissive's face, combining physical control, service, and psychological power exchange. The posit
Quirt
A quirt is a short, stiff-handled whip with a braided leather lash, delivering a sharper, more concentrated sting than a crop.
RACK
RACK is a consent framework where partners accept and manage known risks informedly, rather than promising guaranteed safety.
Recording Kink
Recording kink is the arousal found in filming sex or BDSM scenes and in watching those recordings back later.
Red Flags in Kink
The warning signs that a kink partner, Dominant, or dynamic is crossing from consensual play into unsafe or abusive territory.
Relationship Building in BDSM
Relationship building in BDSM refers to the gradual development of trust, mutual knowledge, communication habits, and shared BDSM history between partners, the long-term relational work that creates s
Remote Toy Play
Remote toy play is wearing an app-controlled vibrator in public while a partner secretly triggers it from a distance.
Restraint
Restraint is the consensual practice of physically limiting a partner's movement using rope, cuffs, tape, or other tools in BDSM play.
Restraints
Restraints are tools or techniques used to limit a partner's movement during BDSM play, ranging from rope and cuffs to tape and chain.
Restrictive Bondage
Restrictive bondage prioritizes maximum immobility as its defining goal, eliminating movement to create genuine physical helplessness.
Reverse Prayer Tie
A rope bondage position binding the forearms and palms together behind the back in a prayer-like shape, demanding significant shoulder flexibility.
Riding Crop
Riding crop in BDSM: crop anatomy, target zones, technique for accurate precision striking, sensation types, safe and unsafe target areas.
Rigger
A rigger is the person tying rope in a bondage scene, responsible for technique, safety, and reading the person they're tying.
Risky Play in BDSM
Risky play refers to BDSM practices that carry elevated risk, whether physical, psychological, social, or legal. All BDSM involves some risk; "risky play" specifically labels practices where that risk
Role Reversal
Role reversal is a temporary, negotiated swap of dominant and submissive roles for a single scene, distinct from a switch identity.
Role-Specific Fetish in BDSM
Role-specific fetish is erotic attraction to specific roles, occupations, character types, or uniforms, where the costume, identity, authority, or archetype of a particular role creates the primary er
Roleplay in BDSM
Roleplay is the consensual performance of characters, scenarios, or fantasy situations during BDSM scenes, allowing partners to explore dynamics, fantasies, and psychological states through fiction. F
Rope Bondage
Rope bondage is the use of rope to bind and physically restrain a partner in BDSM play, encompassing styles from simple two-column wrist ties to complex suspension harnesses. One of the most practiced
Rope Bottoming
Rope bottoming is the active, skilled role of being tied: managing your body, breath, and communication throughout a rope scene.
Rope Burn
Rope burn is a friction injury caused by rope sliding across skin under tension, common in dynamic rope bondage scenes.
Rope Marks
The temporary skin patterns rope leaves behind, how long they typically last, and the signs that mean something's actually wrong.
Rope Rigging
Rope rigging in BDSM refers to the hardware, anchor points, and engineering knowledge used to attach rope bondage, particularly suspension, to overhead structures. It encompasses choosing and installi
Rope Suspension
Rope suspension is the advanced bondage practice of supporting part or all of a person's body weight through rope tied to an overhead rigging point. It is the highest-risk practice in rope bondage, re
Roughhousing
Roughhousing is consensual playful wrestling and physical struggle used to build primal, body-driven connection without heavy impact or pain.
Ruined Orgasm
A ruined orgasm strips the pleasure from climax by cutting stimulation at the point of no return, leaving release without satisfaction.
Sadism in BDSM
Sadism is the erotic or psychological gratification derived from consensually inflicting pain, discomfort, or humiliation on a willing partner. In BDSM, sadism is expressed within explicit consent fra
Sadomasochism
Sadomasochism is the giving and receiving of pain, control, or intensity for mutual erotic or emotional satisfaction between consenting partners.
Safe Call
A safe call is a pre-arranged check-in with a trusted friend to confirm your safety before, during, or after meeting a new partner.
Safe Landing
Safe landing after subspace and intense BDSM play: what altered states feel like, grounding techniques, signs of incomplete return, and when to seek support.
Safe, Sane, Consensual (SSC)
Safe, Sane, Consensual (SSC) is a foundational BDSM framework holding that play should minimize risk, involve clear thinking, and rest on full consent.
Safety Shears
Safety shears are blunt-tipped EMT scissors kept within arm's reach during bondage to cut restraints quickly if something goes wrong.
Safewords
A safeword is a pre-agreed word, phrase, or signal that any participant in a BDSM scene can use to pause or immediately stop all activity. The safeword is the primary consent mechanism in BDSM — it
Salirophilia
Salirophilia is sexual arousal tied to dirtying, disheveling, or messing up a partner's clothing or appearance.
Scarf Play
Scarf play uses scarves or soft fabric restraints for light bondage — a common beginner entry point into restraint play that uses accessible household items. While scarves feel gentle and approachab
Scene
A scene is a bounded period of BDSM play with an agreed beginning, middle, and end, distinct from everyday life.
Scene Debrief
A scene debrief is a focused conversation after a scene, usually once aftercare has settled, about what worked and what needs to change.
Scene Negotiation
Scene negotiation is the consent conversation that takes place before any BDSM activity begins. It establishes what each person wants, what they are willing to do, what is absolutely off-limits, relev
Scratching in BDSM
Scratching in BDSM uses friction across the skin to create sensation, marking, and primal connection between partners.
Self-Aftercare
Self-aftercare is the practice of tending to your own physical and emotional needs after a scene, without relying on a partner.
Self-Bondage
Self-bondage is the practice of applying restraints to oneself, typically incorporating a time-delayed or mechanical release mechanism. It allows a person to experience bondage sensations and restrict
Self-Spanking
Self-spanking is solo impact play where you strike your own body by hand or with a tool, without a partner.
Semi-Public Play in BDSM
Semi-public play refers to BDSM scenes conducted in spaces where the activity is potentially visible to others but where the observation is controlled, limited, or deliberately curated, occupying the
Sensation Denial
Sensation denial withholds touch to build arousal. Absence becomes the experience, and anticipation itself turns into intense sensation.
Sensation Play
Sensation play is the broad BDSM practice of deliberately exploring and manipulating physical sensations, using temperature, texture, pressure, vibration, and other stimuli to produce a rich spectrum
Sensory Bondage
Sensory bondage is the practice of combining physical restraint with deliberate sensory manipulation, using bondage as a framework that heightens sensory experiences through restricted movement, physi
Sensory Deprivation
Sensory deprivation removes one or more senses during play, intensifying focus, vulnerability, and surrender between partners.
Sensory Deprivation Safety
A practical safety guide to sensory deprivation in BDSM: how to block senses safely, manage risk, and protect your partner.
Sensory Overload
Sensory overload layers multiple intense sensations at once, overwhelming the senses instead of removing them.
Sensual BDSM
Sensual BDSM is a softer approach to power exchange built on slow sensation, control, and touch instead of pain or impact.
Sensual Massage
Sensual massage is slow, intentional touch used to arouse, ease into a scene, or care for the body once play is done.
Service Submission in BDSM
Service submission is a form of BDSM submission centered on acts of practical service, care, and devotion to a dominant partner, expressing the power exchange dynamic through tasks, attentiveness, and
Service Top
A service top performs the physical actions a bottom requests, like impact or bondage, without holding power or authority over them.
Shackles and Leg Irons
Metal ankle cuffs joined by a short chain that restrict walking to a shuffle, used for hobbling and captive or prisoner roleplay.
Sharing Kink
Sharing kink is the arousal that comes from a partner being sexually involved with someone else, with full knowledge and consent.
Shibari
Shibari is a Japanese rope bondage art form, the word means "to tie", emphasizing the aesthetic beauty of rope patterns on the body, precise knot geometries, and the emotional and energetic exchange b
Shoe Fetish
Shoe fetish is erotic attraction to footwear itself, its materials, and the way it transforms the wearer's body and presence.
Silk and Satin Fetish
A fixation on the texture, sheen, and sound of silk and satin fabrics, often tied to touch, clothing, and bondage play.
Single Column Tie
A basic rope wrap around one limb or post, built with friction locks so it holds firm without tightening under pressure.
Sissification in BDSM
Sissification is a BDSM practice combining feminization, humiliation play, and D/s power exchange in consensual scenes.
Sitophilia
Sitophilia is a fetish involving sexual arousal connected to food, from feeding and messy play to specific foods as fixations.
Slapping in BDSM
A guide to slapping in BDSM: how body and face slapping differ, where it's safe to land, and the consent and technique that make it work.
Slave Training in BDSM
Slave training is a structured [power exchange](/kink-codex/psychological-play/power-exchange/) practice in which a dominant partner systematically teaches, conditions, and reinforces specific behavio
Sleepsack
A sleepsack is a full-body enclosure bag of leather, latex, or fabric that immobilizes the wearer from neck to toe.
Small Penis Humiliation (SPH)
Small Penis Humiliation (SPH) is a consensual kink where genital size is used as the specific focus of degrading talk or roleplay.
Sneezing Fetish
A fixation on the sight, sound, or sensation of sneezing, often tied to anticipation, loss of control, or a specific attraction to noses.
Sock Fetish
A sock fetish is a sexual attraction to socks, whether worn, scented, or clean, often linked to foot fetish interests.
Soft Kink
Soft kink describes BDSM practiced with warmth, slowness, and minimal pain, prioritizing emotional closeness over intensity or roughness.
Soft Swap
Soft swap is a form of partner swapping where couples engage with others but stop short of penetrative intercourse.
Spandex Fetish
A fetish centered on the tight fit, glossy sheen and second-skin coverage of spandex and Lycra clothing.
Spanking
Spanking is one of the most common forms of impact play in BDSM, involving striking the buttocks with hands or implements. It ranges from playful and gentle to intense, and is a popular entry point in
Spanking Bench
A padded piece of BDSM furniture that positions the body for extended, comfortable impact play with the buttocks as the target.
Speculum Play
Speculum play involves using a speculum to open and expose the body during medical-themed exposure and exam roleplay scenes.
Speech Protocol
Speech protocol is a set of agreed rules governing how a submissive communicates, including permission, address, and word restrictions.
Spit Play
Spit play is the intentional use of saliva — spitting on a partner, spitting into their mouth, or incorporating saliva exchange — as part of BDSM play. It is practiced for degradation, intimacy, s
Spreader Bar
Spreader bars in BDSM: how rigid bars control limb spacing, hardware requirements, position-specific risks, attachment methods, and safe use guidelines.
SSC (Safe, Sane, Consensual)
SSC is a BDSM safety framework built on three principles: keeping play safe, staying mentally sound, and ensuring full consent.
St. Andrew's Cross
St. Andrew's Cross for BDSM: X-frame structure overview, attachment points, safe positioning, duration limits, inspection checklist, and scene setup guidance.
Stag and Vixen
A dynamic where a man takes pleasure in his partner's sex with others, rooted in confidence and shared enjoyment rather than degradation.
STI Testing and Kink
The testing schedules, disclosure norms, and conversations kink communities use to manage sexual health risk honestly.
Stigmatophilia
Stigmatophilia is a sexual attraction to tattoos, piercings, scars, and other permanent marks on a partner's body.
Sting Play
Sting play: how sharp surface sensation works in BDSM, implements that produce sting, the difference from thud, target zones, warm-up, and safety.
Stockings Fetish
Stockings fetish is a focused attraction to thigh-high hosiery, garter belts, and the visual gap of bare skin above the stocking top.
Stocks and Pillory
Wooden or padded frames that lock the neck and wrists (pillory) or ankles (stocks) to hold a partner still for display, teasing, or impact.
Straitjacket Bondage
Straitjacket bondage locks the arms crossed and bound behind the body using a rigid or canvas jacket for total upper-body helplessness.
Strap-On Play
Strap-on play is sexual activity involving a harness-mounted dildo, allowing the wearer to penetrate a partner regardless of their own anatomy. It is central to pegging (a female-presenting person pen
Strappado
Strappado binds the wrists behind the back and elevates them, a position with one of the highest shoulder-injury risks in bondage.
Stress Bondage
Stress bondage uses positions and restraints that create intensity through fatigue and sustained muscular effort over time.
Stretch Marks Fetish
A stretch marks fetish is a sexual or romantic attraction to the texture and appearance of stretch marks on a partner's skin.
Striptease
A deliberate, paced undress performed for a watching partner or audience, built on tension, reveal, and mutual consent.
Struggle Play
Struggle play is consensual physical resistance where the bottom genuinely fights back within pre-negotiated rules and limits.
Sub Drop
Sub drop is a physiological and psychological crash experienced by submissive or bottom partners following intense BDSM scenes, caused by the drop in endorphins, adrenaline, and other neurochemicals a
Submission
Submission is the consensual choice to give up control to a trusted partner, a dynamic built on trust rather than weakness.
Subspace
Subspace explained: what it is, the neurochemistry behind it, signs you or your partner are in subspace, and how to support safe return from altered states.
Sweat Fetish
A sweat fetish is an arousal response to the scent, taste, or appearance of sweat on a partner's body during or after exertion.
Swimsuit Fetish
A swimsuit fetish centers arousal on swimwear itself, its fabric, fit, and the body it reveals, as an object of desire.
Swinging
Swinging is the consensual practice of couples or individuals exchanging partners for sexual activity. It is a form of consensual non-monogamy focused primarily on sexual, rather than romantic, connec
Swinging Impact Play
Swinging impact play refers to the mechanics and technique of delivering consensual strikes using a full arm swing, as opposed to wrist-snap or thuddy drops, encompassing the biomechanics, implement s
Takate Kote (Box Tie)
A Japanese rope technique that binds the arms behind the back in a box shape across the upper torso, foundational to shibari.
Task Play
Task play is a power exchange practice where a dominant assigns chores, challenges, or routines for a submissive to complete, proving obedience through action.
Tawse
A split-tongued leather strap from the Scottish punishment tradition, used today for sharp, stinging impact play.
Tease and Denial
Tease and denial is a sustained dynamic of arousal and withholding, often stretched across days, built on anticipation rather than a single scene.
Temperature Play in BDSM
Temperature play is the consensual use of heat and cold stimuli, ice, warm implements, wax, heated stones, and other thermal tools, to produce varied physical sensations on the skin, ranging from gent
Tentacle Fantasy
A fetish and fantasy genre centered on tentacled creatures, prized for themes of overwhelming multiplicity, restraint, and otherness.
Texture Play
Texture play uses varied surface materials to deliver tactile sensation through contrast, surprise, and the quality of skin contact.
The 4Cs
The 4Cs is a BDSM ethics framework built on Caring, Communication, Consent, and Caution as the basis for responsible kink.
The Assertive
The Assertive is confident, clear, and comfortable steering — but total control is not the goal. This KinkCode-specific profile names an orientation that sits between full Dominance and Switch: lead
The Dominant
The Dominant holds authority consciously, deliberately, and with full intention. This is the strongest control-oriented orientation in the KinkCode model — defined not by dominance as aggression, bu
The Responsive
The Responsive finds deep satisfaction in being guided — not because they are passive or without agency, but because letting someone lead frees them to feel everything more fully. This KinkCode-spec
The Submissive
Surrender is where the Submissive finds themselves. Full submission is not weakness — it is profound trust and radical vulnerability raised to the level of art. The Submissive orientation is the mos
The Switch
The Switch contains genuine multitudes — the hunger to control and the desire to be controlled live simultaneously, and neither cancels the other out. This is not indecision or a lack of preference.
Threesome
A threesome is sexual activity involving three participants simultaneously. It is the most common multi-partner configuration and requires consent negotiation among all three participants, specificall
Thudding
Thudding in BDSM impact play: how deep thud sensation works, implements that produce thud, the thud/sting spectrum, warm-up, and safe use.
Thumb Cuffs
Thumb cuffs are small metal restraints that lock a person's thumbs together, offering light physical restraint but real risk to small joints.
Tickling in BDSM
Tickling in BDSM uses the involuntary tickle reflex as a form of controlled sensation play, restraint, and power exchange.
Top Drop
Top drop is the physiological and psychological crash experienced by dominant, top, or sadistic partners following intense BDSM scenes, the dominant's equivalent of sub drop. It can involve feelings o
Topping From the Bottom
When a bottom subtly directs or controls a scene they agreed to let the top lead, through hints, resistance, or instructions.
Total Power Exchange (TPE)
Total Power Exchange is a 24/7 D/s dynamic where a dominant partner holds authority over most or all areas of daily life, not just during scenes.
Trampling
Trampling is the practice of standing, walking, or balancing on a partner's body as a form of pressure and impact play.
Transformation Fetish
A transformation fetish is arousal tied to fantasies or fiction depicting a body changing form, species, gender, or state.
Trauma-Informed Kink
Trauma-informed kink is an approach to BDSM that accounts for how trauma responses and triggers can surface during play.
Underwear Fetish
Underwear fetish: types of intimate garments, worn vs. unworn preferences, the intimate object quality of underwear, BDSM applications, and communication.
Unicorn
A unicorn is a single person, usually a woman, who joins an existing couple for play, often bisexual and in short supply relative to demand.
Uniform Fetish
A uniform fetish is arousal tied to the look, authority, or role signaled by a specific uniform, from military to medical to school attire.
Urethral Sounding
Urethral sounding is inserting smooth, sterile metal rods into the urethra for internal stimulation and intense, unusual sensation.
Vacuum Bed
A vacuum bed is a two-layer latex sheet that, once air is pumped out, shrinks tight around the body for full immobilization.
Vacuum Pumping
Vacuum pumping uses suction devices on nipples or genitals to temporarily swell tissue and intensify sensation.
Vanilla in BDSM
Vanilla describes sex and relationships that do not involve kink, BDSM, or fetish. It is a descriptor of preference, not a verdict on quality or adventurousness. Most people who use the word about the
Vibration Play
Vibration play uses vibrators and vibrating tools to tease, edge, or overwhelm a partner's nervous system through sustained, controlled stimulation.
Violet Wand
The violet wand is a high-voltage, low-amperage electrical device used in BDSM for sparking, buzzing, and tingling sensation play.
Vore
Vore is a fantasy fetish involving the idea of swallowing or being swallowed whole, explored almost entirely through fiction, art, or roleplay.
Voyeur Fantasy
Voyeur fantasy in BDSM: why watching is arousing, the psychology of observation desire, how fantasy differs from behavior, and consensual exploration.
Voyeur Roleplay
Voyeur roleplay is a scripted scene where one partner plays the role of a hidden or secret watcher with full prior consent.
Vulnerability and Connection in BDSM Relationships
How vulnerability creates deeper connection in BDSM: the courage of exposure, mutual vulnerability in D/s, protection of openness, and when vulnerability feels unsafe.
Warm-Up and Cool-Down
The ramp-up before intense play begins and the wind-down after it ends, both critical for physical safety and emotional landing.
Wartenberg Wheel
The Wartenberg wheel is a spiked pinwheel rolled across skin to create sensations ranging from tingling to sharp pinprick stings.
Watersports
Watersports covers erotic urine play, including golden showers. A taboo kink that blends power exchange, intimacy, and vulnerability.
Wax Play
Wax play is a consensual BDSM practice involving dripping hot wax onto a partner's skin to produce heat sensation, temporary pain, and aesthetic effects,
Wedgie Fetish
Wedgie fetish is arousal tied to giving or receiving wedgies, often blending physical sensation with playful or humiliating power dynamics.
Wet and Messy (WAM)
Wet and Messy (WAM) is a fetish umbrella built around the sensation and visual of bodies covered in food, mud, or liquid mess.
Wetlook Fetish
Wetlook fetish is arousal centered on clothing becoming soaked, clinging to the body, and transforming in texture, weight, and appearance.
Whipping
Whipping is impact play using a whip, single-tail, signal whip, or similar implement, to deliver precise, intense strikes. It is the most technically demanding impact play practice, requiring substant
Wild Play
Wild play is unstructured, instinct-driven BDSM where partners follow impulse and genuine response rather than a planned scene.
Window Watching
A consensual voyeurism scene where one partner is deliberately watched through a window by an arranged observer.
Worship
Worship is devotional BDSM play where a submissive reveres a specific body part, object, or person as an act of surrender.
Wrist Restraints
Wrist restraints are among the most frequently used forms of bondage, from leather cuffs to rope to bondage tape. Because the wrists are a major nerve junction and blood vessel pathway, they carry spe
Yes/No/Maybe List
A shared checklist of kinks and activities partners rate yes, no, or maybe to find mutual interest before negotiating a scene.
Zapper
A zapper is a handheld electrical sensation device, most often a violet wand, used to deliver tingles, sparks, and sting in BDSM play.
Zentai
Zentai is a full-body skintight suit that covers face and all, prized for anonymity, sensory focus, and a seamless second-skin look.