safe word
safe word is the alternative form of safeword.
Meaning of safeword
Noun
safeword (plural safewords)
- A word used in sexual practices (especially sadomasochistic ones) to unambiguously indicate that a participant actually desires the activity to cease and is not merely feigning a lack of consent.
- Likewise, a top's ability to respond to your safeword is what makes her a safe partner.2004, Felice Newman, The Whole Lesbian Sex Book, →ISBN, page 201
- A word used to confirm one's identity; a password.
- They invented a safe word to confirm they were real at the start of any sensitive phone call.2026 June 14, Eli Saslow, Erin Schaff, “The World’s Leading Deepfake Expert No Longer Trusts His Own Eyes”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Forms of safe word
| plural | safe words |
|---|
Origin of safe word
From safe + word.
Questions about safe word
- What is safe word the alternative form of?
- Safe word is the alternative form of safeword.
Words near safe word in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: safe word (page history and authors); safeword (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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “safe word.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/safe_word. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.