A plain-language A-Z of fetishes and kinks. Each entry answers the same honest questions. What it is, whether it is common, why people have it, and how to explore it, all with no judgement and nothing explicit.

Body & features

A part of the body, or something worn on it.

• armpit fetish An armpit fetish is a steady attraction to armpits, whether to how they look, the vulnerability of a raised arm, or their natural scent. On its own it is a harmless variation, provided everyone involved is a consenting adult.
• eyes and glasses fetish A glasses fetish, part of a wider eyes and glasses fetish, is a steady attraction to eyewear and often the eyes behind it. It is a harmless variation in attraction, tied to both the look of frames and the intimacy of eye contact.
• foot fetish A foot fetish is a steady sexual or sensual attraction to feet. It is the most commonly reported fetish for any single body part, and by itself it is a harmless variation in what someone finds arousing.
• hair fetish A hair fetish, or trichophilia, is a steady attraction to hair: its look, feel, scent, or the acts of touching, brushing and styling it. By itself it is a harmless variation in attraction.
• hand fetish A hand fetish is a steady sexual or sensual attraction to hands, whether to their look, their touch, or the way they move. On its own it is a harmless variation in what someone finds appealing.
• leg fetish A leg fetish is a dependable erotic or sensual attraction to legs, from their shape and length to the way hosiery, hemlines and heels frame them. By itself it is a harmless variation in attraction.
• mouth and lips fetish A lip fetish, part of a broader mouth and lips fetish, is a steady attraction to lips and the mouth, whether to their shape, colour, movement or the idea of kissing. On its own it is a harmless variation in what someone finds appealing.
• muscle fetish A muscle fetish, sometimes called sthenolagnia, is a steady attraction to muscularity, from size and definition to the sense of strength itself. By itself it is a harmless variation in what someone finds attractive.
• navel fetish A navel fetish, also called a belly button fetish, is a steady attraction to the navel and midriff. It is a harmless variation in what someone finds attractive when everyone involved is a consenting adult.
• neck fetish A neck fetish is a steady attraction to the neck and throat, whether to the look of a bare neck, the sensitivity of the skin there, or the trust in exposing it. Kept to touch and appreciation, it is a harmless variation.
• piercing fetish A piercing fetish is a steady attraction to piercings and body jewelry, to their look, their glint, and the slight edge they carry. On its own it is a harmless variation in attraction.
• tattoo fetish A tattoo fetish is a steady attraction to tattooed skin, to the artwork itself and to what it suggests about the person wearing it. It is a harmless variation in what someone finds attractive.

Materials & wear

A fabric, texture or garment.

• boot fetish A boot fetish is a reliable attraction to boots, from thigh-highs and knee-highs to riding, combat and heeled styles. The pull often mixes the encasing of the leg with the authority and dominance that boots tend to project.
• corset fetish A corset fetish is an erotic or sensual fascination with corsets: the laced, boned garment that cinches the waist into an hourglass. The appeal blends the dramatic silhouette with the firm, constant hug of being tightly laced.
• denim fetish A denim fetish is a dependable attraction to denim, usually jeans, and to how the fabric looks, feels and fits on the body. It is a harmless variation attached to one of the most ordinary materials around.
• fur fetish A fur fetish is an attraction to fur and fur garments, real or faux, focused on the plush, soft texture and the luxurious look. It is a normal, harmless variation and a separate thing from the furry fandom.
• glove fetish A glove fetish is an attraction to gloves and to hands made mysterious or transformed by them, whether long satin opera gloves, supple leather, or clinical latex. The material and the covered hand are the focus.
• latex fetish A latex fetish is a steady attraction to shiny, skin-tight latex clothing, whether you like wearing it, seeing a partner in it, or both. On its own it is a harmless and fairly common variation in what turns someone on.
• leather fetish A leather fetish is a reliable attraction to leather, its look, smell, feel and the subculture around it, in clothing like jackets, boots, gloves and harnesses. By itself it is a common and harmless preference.
• lingerie fetish A lingerie fetish is a steady attraction to intimate garments such as lace, bras, slips and corsetry, whether worn or seen on a partner. It is one of the most common and widely understood fetishes there is.
• pantyhose fetish A pantyhose fetish is a steady attraction to pantyhose or tights, the one-piece sheer or opaque legwear worn from foot to waist. The appeal often comes from the smooth, all-over encased feel and from how ordinary and everywhere tights are. By itself it's harmless.
• pvc and vinyl fetish A PVC fetish is an attraction to the glossy, wet-look plastics used for clubwear and fetish fashion, namely PVC and vinyl. It is a common, low-key variation focused on that hard, shiny surface rather than the body underneath.
• rubber fetish A rubber fetish is a strong attraction to rubber gear and the experience of wearing it, usually the heavier, more enclosing end of the shiny-material world. It is a normal variation and shares a lot with latex.
• shoe and heel fetish A high heel fetish, also called a shoe and heel fetish, is a strong attraction to shoes and heels, whether the object itself, the arched foot inside it, or the posture and walk that heels create. It's closely related to foot fetishism but centres on the footwear.
• silk fetish A silk fetish is an attraction to silk and silky fabrics like satin, centred on how soft and cool they feel and how they drape over skin. It is one of the gentlest and most harmless fetishes there is.
• sock fetish A sock fetish is a dependable attraction to socks, from cute over-the-knee and knee-high styles to cosy woollen or sporty ankle socks. It sits close to foot fetishism but keeps its focus on the socks and their casual, homely feel.
• spandex and lycra fetish A spandex fetish is an attraction to tight, stretchy synthetic fabric such as spandex, Lycra and elastane, and to the smooth, clinging look and feel it gives. It is a common and harmless variation.
• stockings and nylons fetish A stocking fetish, sometimes called a stockings and nylons fetish, is a reliable erotic or sensual pull towards stockings and nylons, from sheer hold-ups to seamed styles and garter belts. On its own it's a harmless and very common taste.
• uniform fetish A uniform fetish is an attraction to uniforms and the roles they represent, from nurses and officers to service and school styles. Most of the charge comes from what the uniform signals, such as authority, competence or care, rather than the cloth itself.

Sensation & scene

A physical sensation or a set-up that creates one.

• balloon fetish (looner) A balloon fetish is a sexual or sensual attraction to balloons, and people who have it often call themselves looners. The appeal can be the look, feel, sound or the tension of inflating and possibly popping them.
• blindfold and sensory deprivation A blindfold fetish, and sensory deprivation more broadly, is the erotic use of blocking a sense, usually sight, to heighten the others and deepen trust and anticipation. A simple blindfold is one of the most common and approachable kinks there is.
• impact play Impact play is the umbrella term for consensual kink built on striking the body, covering spanking, flogging, paddling and caning. The sensation ranges from deep and thuddy to sharp and stingy, and where a strike lands matters at least as much as how hard it is.
• inflatable fetish An inflatable fetish is an attraction to inflatable objects such as pool toys, rings and air-filled figures, sometimes called inflatophilia. The appeal usually lies in the smooth material, the bouncy give and the act of inflation itself.
• orgasm denial Orgasm denial is the deliberate withholding of release, either self-imposed or handed to a partner who holds the decision. It covers edging, ruined orgasms and long-term denial, and the anticipation it builds is the point rather than a side effect.
• pain and endorphins Pain can feel good in kink because the body's response to it, endorphins and adrenaline, overlaps with arousal, and because context changes how the brain interprets an identical signal. The physiology is real, and the psychology does at least as much of the work.
• sensory deprivation The sensory deprivation kink is the deliberate removal of one or more senses, usually sight and hearing together, so the person deprived is left with touch, time and their own head. The disorientation is the experience being sought rather than a side effect of it.
• subspace and subdrop Subspace is the altered, floaty state some submissives enter during intense play, and subdrop is the low that can follow it hours or days afterwards. Both are common enough to plan for and variable enough that many people never experience either.
• temperature play Temperature play is sensation play that uses hot and cold, such as ice, warmed oil or chilled metal, to surprise the skin and heighten arousal. It is one of the most accessible and low-risk ways into kink.
• tickling fetish A tickling fetish is a sexual or sensual charge tied to tickling, whether you like giving it, receiving it, or watching. On its own it is a harmless, playful variation in what turns someone on.
• topspace and topdrop Top drop is the emotional and physical crash a dominant can experience after an intense scene, and topspace is the focused, adrenaline-lit state that comes before it. Both get discussed far less than the submissive versions, and tops need aftercare for the same reasons.
• wax play Wax play is a form of sensation play where warm, melted candle wax is dripped onto the skin for the heat and the anticipation. Done with the right candles and a little care, it is a common, low-risk part of many people's kink.
• wet and messy (wam) The wet and messy fetish, often shortened to WAM or called sploshing, is enjoyment of being covered in or watching messy substances like food, gunge or mud. It is a mostly playful, non-explicit kink centred on texture and mess.

Power & psychology

A dynamic of control, surrender or headspace.

• blackmail fantasy Blackmail fantasy is consensual play in which one person acts as though they hold something over another, and the threat of exposure is the charge. It becomes a different thing entirely once the material handed over is real and identifying, because nothing can be un-sent, and consent given in advance does not make later coercion consensual.
• body worship Body worship is showing reverent, devoted attention to a partner's body, through things like kissing, massaging, kneeling or praising. It often sits within dominance and submission, where one person adores and the other receives, and it can stay entirely non-explicit.
• brat and brat taming In the brat kink, a submissive playfully resists, teases and talks back instead of obeying, and the dominant partner enjoys taming them. The defiance is affectionate provocation, a game both people want, not real disrespect.
• chastity The chastity kink is a power-exchange game built on controlling and delaying orgasm, often with one partner holding that power over the other. It can involve a physical locking device, and the tension of the waiting is the whole point.
• cuckold and cuckquean The cuckold kink is arousal from watching or knowing that your partner is being intimate with someone else, with everyone's consent. A man in that role is the cuckold, a woman is the cuckquean, and the celebratory version is often called hotwifing.
• degradation play The degradation kink is the consensual use of harsh, insulting or dehumanising language in a scene to make someone feel debased, in a way they find arousing. It is heavier than humiliation, relies on firm negotiated limits and a safeword, and needs real aftercare.
• edge play Edge play is the umbrella term for kink that carries real and irreducible risk, such as breath play, blood, knives and fear play. The term is deliberately relative: it marks the edge of what a given person or community treats as acceptable risk rather than naming a fixed list.
• exhibitionism The exhibitionism kink is arousal that comes from being seen, from showing your body or being intimate where willing others can watch. Done properly it involves only consenting adults and consenting spaces, and it is entirely separate from flashing strangers, which is a crime, not a kink.
• financial domination Financial domination, or findom, is a kink in which the erotic charge comes from one person giving money or control over money to another. The turn-on is the transfer of power, not the purchase itself.
• financial submission Financial submission is the submissive side of financial domination: the person who gives money, or control over money, and takes the charge from the giving. The appeal is real, and so is the line where it stops being play and becomes exploitation.
• free use The free use kink is an arrangement between established partners where one gives a standing yes, so the other can initiate within agreed limits without asking each time. The consent is granted in advance, in detail, and can be withdrawn at any moment.
• funishment Funishment is punishment both people know is theatre: a rule gets broken on purpose and a consequence follows that both of them wanted anyway. It borrows the shape of discipline as a pretext for play, and it works only while both are reading it the same way.
• humiliation (erotic) A humiliation kink is arousal that comes from being embarrassed on purpose, such as being teased, gently put down, or exposed by a trusted partner inside a scene you both agreed to. The squirm is the point, and it stays healthy only with clear limits and aftercare.
• objectification (consensual) The objectification kink is consensually playing at being treated as an object or a thing rather than a person, from being used to posing as human furniture. The arousal comes from that surrender of personhood inside a scene both people negotiated.
• praise kink A praise kink is arousal or deep satisfaction from being praised, encouraged or told you are good by a partner. It is one of the gentler kinks, running on affirmation and approval, and it often appears within loving dominant and submissive dynamics.
• predicament bondage Predicament bondage is restraint arranged so that easing one discomfort creates another, leaving the bound person to choose between two unpleasant options. The choice is what makes it distinct: it hands the bottom real agency inside their own powerlessness.
• primal play Primal play is the wordless, instinct-led end of kink: chasing, wrestling, pinning, growling and biting, usually framed as hunter and prey. It runs on impulse rather than rules, which is what makes it feel so different from structured dominance and submission.
• voyeurism The voyeurism kink is arousal from watching others who are undressed or being intimate, when those people have agreed to be seen. Consensual watching, with partners or performers who opted in, is harmless. Secretly spying on people who did not consent is a crime, not a kink.

Role & identity

Playing a part, or taking on another self.

• age play and ABDL Age play, including the ABDL variation, is a roleplay between consenting adults in which one person relaxes into a younger headspace while a partner cares for them. It has nothing to do with children, and for many people it is about comfort and care rather than sex.
• capture fantasy A capture fantasy is an erotic scenario built around being taken and held inside a story, with a threat at the beginning and some kind of outcome at the end. What defines it is the narrative rather than the restraint: the plot is the appeal, and the rope, if there is any, is a prop inside it.
• dollification Dollification is a kink in which one person is styled, posed and treated as a doll, usually with a distinct look built from latex, makeup or a mask. The appeal joins being made into something to look at with the stillness and silence the role asks for.
• furry fandom and fursuits The furry fandom is a large creative and social community built around anthropomorphic animal characters and fursuits. It's mostly about art, costume and friendship; only a minority treat it as a furry fetish, and the two shouldn't be confused.
• hypnokink (erotic hypnosis) Erotic hypnosis, also called hypnokink, is the use of hypnosis-style suggestion and trance for erotic play between consenting adults. It ranges from deep relaxation to elaborate mind-control fantasy, and it works with a willing subject rather than against them.
• maid fetish A maid fetish is an erotic interest in the maid figure and the service she represents, usually expressed through the classic uniform and the roleplay of waiting on someone. The appeal is the mix of costume, ritual and a gentle service dynamic.
• medical play Medical play is a roleplay built around a clinical setting, such as a doctor and patient or a nurse and their charge. The charge comes from the vulnerability and control of an examination, and it is theatre rather than real medicine.
• pet play Pet play is a roleplay where one person takes on the headspace and mannerisms of an animal, such as a puppy, kitten or pony, while a partner often plays the handler or owner. It is usually about play, affection and headspace rather than anything explicit.
• protocol and rituals BDSM protocol is an agreed set of behaviours that mark a dynamic: forms of address, positions, rules about speaking, and rituals that open and close a scene. Low protocol is a light touch of it; high protocol is a formal and detailed code.
• service submission Service submission is submission expressed through doing rather than receiving: cooking, cleaning, admin, errands and personal attendance carried out to someone else's standard as an act of devotion. It suits people who want the dynamic without any interest in pain.
• sissy and feminization A feminization kink is an erotic interest in being made more feminine, through clothing, makeup, manner or role, often called sissification or sissy play. It's a form of roleplay and arousal, and for most people it is separate from their gender identity.
• teacher and student roleplay Teacher roleplay is an adult roleplay built on the teacher and student dynamic, using the authority, instruction and power gap of a classroom as its frame. It is played between consenting adults and is about the dynamic, never about real students.
• transformation fetish A transformation fetish, often shortened to TF, is an erotic fascination with the idea of a body or identity changing form, such as a person becoming an animal, an object, or someone else entirely. It lives mostly in imagination, art and story.

Alt, subculture & type

Fantasy, body type and the further reaches.

• bbw and size appreciation A BBW fetish, better described by many as size appreciation, is a genuine attraction to larger or plus-size bodies, especially larger women. For a lot of people it feels less like a fetish and more like a straightforward preference or orientation.
• breeding kink A breeding kink is arousal from the idea of conception and of claiming or being claimed through it. For most people who have it the charge lives in the fantasy and the language, separate from any intention to conceive, and partners who play with it keep contraception in place.
• food play and feederism Food play is the use of food in a sensual or erotic way, from feeding each other to messier fun. Feederism is a specific, more involved version built around an ongoing dynamic of feeding and, often, gaining weight.
• giantess and macrophilia A giantess fetish, part of what's called macrophilia, is an attraction to the fantasy of a huge person, usually a giant woman, and the dramatic size difference that creates. It lives almost entirely in imagination, art and animation.
• height fetish A height fetish is an attraction centred on height, usually a strong pull toward very tall partners or toward a big height difference between two people. It's mostly about the visual and emotional feel of size next to you.
• monster and fantasy fetish A monster fetish, or teratophilia, is an attraction to non-human creatures like vampires, werewolves, aliens or fantasy beasts. It plays out mostly in imagination, art and fiction rather than real life.
• pregnancy fetish A pregnancy fetish, or maiesiophilia, is a sexual or sensual attraction to pregnancy and the pregnant body. It can focus on the look of a pregnant belly, the associations of fertility and fullness, or the pregnant partner themselves.
• robot and drone fetish A robot fetish, sometimes called ASFR or technophilia, is an attraction to robots and androids, or to the fantasy of a person becoming a programmed, machine-like being. It is largely imaginative, expressed through sci-fi media, art and roleplay.
• scent and sweat fetish A scent fetish, or olfactophilia, is an attraction to natural body smells, especially a partner's skin, sweat or musk. It treats scent as a genuine source of arousal rather than something to cover up.
• smoking fetish A smoking fetish, or capnolagnia, is an attraction to the sight and ritual of someone smoking. The appeal usually centres on the imagery, the gestures and the associations rather than tobacco itself.

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