Word.ws English Dictionary

safe space

safe space noun: a place or domain serving as a tolerant environment for people (especially a marginalized group) where they do not face harassment, criticism, scrutiny, etc.; especially one in which participants are understood to share a given political or social viewpoint.

Noun

safe space (plural safe spaces)

  1. A place or domain serving as a tolerant environment for people (especially a marginalized group) where they do not face harassment, criticism, scrutiny, etc.; especially one in which participants are understood to share a given political or social viewpoint.
    • Lesbians at this conference often referred to the search for the sacred "safe space" where we are all the same. This is an avoidance of confrontation in our communities, in society. Separation is a retreat which only a privileged few can enjoy. Real safety will come by uniting with all our allies...1983 December 24, Nancy Reiko, Midge Ward, Nellie Wong, Merle Woo, Emily Woo Yamasaki, “Lesbians Of Color”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 23, page 4
    • This confirms the claim that the internet is not an entirely safe space, and while blogs offer LGBTQs the opportunity to express their views freely and anonymously, they grant this possibility to haters and homophobes, too […]2016, Alexander Dhoest, Lukasz Szulc, Bart Eeckhout, LGBTQs, Media and Culture in Europe, page 166
    Synonyms:
    safer space

Examples of safe space in a sentence

  • Lesbians at this conference often referred to the search for the sacred "safe space" where we are all the same.1983 December 24, Nancy Reiko, Midge Ward, Nellie Wong, Merle Woo, Emily Woo Yamasaki, “Lesbians Of Color”, in Gay Community News, volume...
  • Even Fox News, once Trump’s safe space, the TV network where he would often just call in for a chat, seems to have officially moved on.2022 November 10, Adam Gabbatt, “Has ‘Trumpty Dumpty’ taken a great fall from Rupert Murdoch’s grace?”, in The Guardian:
  • And he violated another rule by doing it on the grounds of a Continental hotel, the supposed safe spaces for assassins around the world.2023 March 14, Caryn James, “John Wick: Chapter 4: 'Soars above most action films'”, in BBC:

Synonyms of safe space

Forms of safe space

pluralsafe spaces

Questions about safe space

What does safe space mean?
Safe space means a place or domain serving as a tolerant environment for people (especially a marginalized group) where they do not face harassment, criticism, scrutiny, etc.; especially one in which participants are understood to share a given political or social viewpoint.
How do you use safe space in a sentence?
Lesbians at this conference often referred to the search for the sacred "safe space" where we are all the same.
What part of speech is safe space?
Safe space is a noun.
What is the plural of safe space?
The plural of safe space is safe spaces.

Words near safe space in the dictionary

  1. safe room
  2. safe rooms
  3. safe seat
  4. safe seats
  5. safe sex
  6. safe space
  7. safe spaces
  8. safe third countries
  9. safe third country
  10. safe travels
  11. safe word

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: safe space (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “safe space.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/safe_space. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.