safeword
safeword noun: 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.
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
- If you don't like something that's happening or you want the scene to stop right away, simply say your safeword.2006, Tristan Taormino, The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women
- 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
Verb
safeword (third-person singular simple present safewords, present participle safewording, simple past and past participle safeworded)
- To stop a sex act by using a safeword.
- Like it's kind of in my head that maybe I could surprise him, like Eddie said, you know, before I flip out and safeword.2015, Kris Ripper, Extremes, page 33
- I am going to trust you to safeword though. Say red if you need to. Okay?2015, Cari Silverwood, Take Me, Break Me, page 177
Examples of safeword in a sentence
- My guess is our victims probably used their safewords or protested at some point, but our guy doesn't care about safewords or the BDSM creed...2007, Sloan Christopher, Dangerous Obsession:
- This can be difficult if your partner is trying to safeword but all that is coming out is a mew or growl.2011, Lee Harrington, Spirit of Desire, page 199:
Forms of safeword
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | safewords |
| alternative form | safe word |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | safewords |
| present participle | safewording |
| past participle | safeworded |
| past | safeworded |
Origin of safeword
From safe + word.
Questions about safeword
- What does safeword mean?
- Safeword means 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.
- How do you use safeword in a sentence?
- My guess is our victims probably used their safewords or protested at some point, but our guy doesn't care about safewords or the BDSM creed...
- What part of speech is safeword?
- Safeword can be a noun or a verb.
- What is the plural of safeword?
- The plural of safeword is safewords.
Words near safeword in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: 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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-safeword.wav.
Cite this entry: “safeword.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/safeword. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.