Essential Sex Glossary Featuring 40 Common Sexual Terms

From sexual orientation to gender identity to different acts in the bedroom, here’s a glossary of basic sex terms:

1. 1. Agender: A person who doesn’t identify with any gender identity, often preferring gender-neutral pronouns such as they. Agender is a gender identity, and it may or may not inform a person’s sexual orientation or sexual preferences.
2. 2. Anal sex: Anal sex typically refers to anal intercourse, which is the insertion of a penis or strap-on into another person’s anus. The term “anal sex” can also be used to describe any sexual activity that involves anal play, such as rimming (licking the anus) or anal penetration by a sex toy or fingers.
3. 3. Asexual: Asexuality is a sexual orientation in which a person experiences little to no sexual attraction. Asexual people may still experience romantic attraction and engage in romantic relationships.
4. 4. BDSM: A blanket term for a wide variety of erotic practices and kinks built upon power dynamics between consenting sexual partners. “BDSM” is a combination of acronyms that stands for three similar but distinct communities that use power imbalance for sexual pleasure: bondage and discipline (B/D), domination and submission (D/s), and sadism and masochism (S/M). In general, BDSM involves one partner acting in the dominant role (or “dom”), while the other embodies the submissive role (or “sub”) as they both act out consensual fantasies. Both partners receive sexual pleasure and satisfaction from performing their role (whether dominant or submissive) during the sexual encounter.
5. 5. Bigender: A person who identifies with both female and male genders. A bigender person may express two genders simultaneously or fluctuates between two genders. Bigender is a gender identity, and it may or may not inform a person’s sexual orientation or sexual preferences.
6. 6. Cisgender: A person whose gender identity matches the gender assigned to them at birth, usually based on their biological sex. Cisgender is a gender identity, and it may or may not inform a person’s sexual orientation or sexual preferences.
7. 7. Clitoris: Most people use the word clitoris to describe the clitoral glans, a small sexual organ at the top of the vulva that contains thousands of nerve endings. However, most of the clitoris is internal, consisting of a body, legs, and bulbs surrounding the vagina. Clitoral stimulation is one of the most common and reliable ways for vulva owners to achieve orgasm. You can stimulate the clitoris with a vibrator or use your hand to rub, stroke, or apply heavy pressure for significant sexual response and powerful orgasms.
8. 8. Demisexual: A sexual orientation in which a person doesn’t experience sexual attraction to a person until they’ve formed an emotional bond with them.
9. 9. Dry humping: Also known as outercourse, frottage, or dry sex, dry humping is a non-penetrative sexual activity in which a person grinds against another person or object to elicit pleasure.
10. 10. Erectile dysfunction: A condition in which a penis-owner has a difficult time getting or maintaining an erection. Erectile dysfunction can result from a physical condition (like bad circulation or low blood pressure) or a psychological condition (like high amounts of stress or low self-confidence).
11. 11. Erogenous zones: Erogenous zones are areas of the human body that are especially sensitive. During sexual foreplay, stimulating these areas can encourage relaxation, promote blood flow, build arousal, enhance sexual pleasure, and help you or your partner achieve orgasm. Common erogenous zones include the armpits, lower abdomen, mouth, neck, breasts, buttocks, shoulders, lower back, and genitals.
12. 12. Fetish: A nontraditional sexual interest that a person usually requires for arousal or sexual gratification. Though they are used interchangeably, a fetish is quite different than a kink, which is a nontraditional sexual interest that a person derives arousal or pleasure from but doesn’t necessarily require for each sexual activity or experience.
13. 13. Fingering: Fingering is a sexual technique that involves manual stimulation of the clitoris, vagina, or g-spot during masturbation, foreplay, or penetrative sex. You can perform fingering solo or with a partner of any gender identity or sexual orientation. For vulva owners, fingering the clitoris, a small sexual organ at the top of the vulva that contains thousands of nerve endings, is one of the main ways to achieve orgasm. Manually massaging the prostate gland (also known as the p-spot) can help penis owners reach a powerful prostate orgasm, which is typically more intense than penile orgasms.
14. 14. Foot fetish: A foot fetish (also called foot partialism, podophilia, or foot fetishism) refers to a sexual interest in which a person requires a form of interaction with feet for sexual gratification. Foot fetishists may become sexually aroused by toes, toe or foot shapes, toenails, ankles, foot-related jewelry, accessories like socks and hosiery, or foot odor. A foot fetish can come from various interactions, including imagining, looking at, touching, smelling, kissing, penetrating, or dressing men’s or women’s feet.
15. 15. Foreplay: Foreplay is any sexual activity that comes before intercourse. The purpose of foreplay is typically to pave the way for sex, but good foreplay can be enjoyable enough to be the main event. Foreplay can involve making out, fingering, dry humping, and nipple stimulation.
16. 16. Genderfluid: A person whose gender identity is not fixed and changes over time. Genderfluid people can identify with different genders at different times or a combination of genders at once. Genderfluid is a gender identity, and it may or may not inform a person’s sexual orientation or sexual preferences.
17. 17. Gender-nonconforming: An umbrella term that describes anyone whose gender expression or identity does not align with traditional societal expectations. Gender-nonconforming is a gender identity, and it may or may not inform a person’s sexual orientation or sexual preferences.
18. 18. Genderqueer: An umbrella term for a person who doesn’t identify with a single gender identity. This term overlaps with non-binary and can also describe anyone who is not cisgender. Genderqueer is a gender identity, and it may or may not inform a person’s sexual orientation or sexual preferences.
19. 19. Gender identity: A person’s personal understanding of their own gender, which may or may not correlate with their assigned gender at birth, gender expression, sexual orientation, sexual attraction, or the particular gender roles or traditional gender binary of their society. Many gender variants make up the gender spectrum, such as male, female, agender, bigender, transgender, femme, intersex, and gender fluid.
20. 20. Gender expression: How a person presents their gender to those around them. Gender expression consists of many different elements, including clothing, grooming, mannerisms, behavior, and interests. Gender expression is a part of gender identity, and it may or may not inform a person’s sexual orientation or sexual preferences.
21. 21. Heteronormativity: Heteronormativity is the belief that heterosexuality is the only natural expression of sexuality.
22. 22. Heterosexual: Heterosexuality is a sexual orientation in which a person is attracted only to those of the opposite gender (e.g., male attracted to female).
23. 23. Intersex: A person born with ambiguously gendered bodies due to chromosome anomalies or ambiguous genitalia. Intersex people often receive a gender assignment at birth through medical intervention, which may or may not correspond to the gender they identify with as they age. Intersexuality is a part of gender identity, and it may or may not inform a person’s sexual orientation or sexual preferences.
24. 24. Kink: A nontraditional sexual interest that a person derives arousal or pleasure from but doesn’t necessarily need it for sexual gratification. Learn more about kinks.
25. 25. LGBTQ: An acronym that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer, often used as a blanket term for any gender-nonconforming individual or community. Sometimes shortened to LGBT or lengthened to LGBTQ+.
26. 26. Lubricant: A liquid used during sexual experiences to reduce friction during penetration, masturbation, or massage. Sometimes shortened to “lube.”
27. 27. Making out: Making out is a colloquial American term for a sexual activity involving two (or more) people engaging in deep kissing and non-penetrative sexual touching (heavy petting). Learn about make-out techniques in our complete guide.
28. 28. Masturbation: The act of pleasuring yourself for sexual enjoyment. Masturbation can employ several different tools—hands, toys like dildos or vibrators, erotic videos or stories, or even just mental imagery—and can be done solo or with a partner(s) as part of mutual masturbation.
29. 29. Monogamy: The practice of engaging in a relationship (sexual or romantic) with only one other person at a time. Monogamy is in contrast to polyamory, in which a person can be engaged in multiple relationships at one time.
30. 30. Non-binary: A person who doesn’t fall under the traditional male-female binary. A non-binary person may identify as both male and female, or neither. Non-binary is a gender identity, and it may or may not inform a person’s sexual orientation or sexual preferences.
31. 31. Oral sex: When a person uses their mouth to stimulate another’s genitals. Oral stimulation can be performed using the tongue, lips, or throat and can be a form of foreplay before sexual intercourse or as the main event of a sexual experience. Oral sex has three subcategories: cunnilingus (oral sex with a vulva), fellatio (oral sex with a penis, also called a blow job), and analingus (oral sex with an anus, also called a rim job).
32. 32. Pansexuality: A sexual orientation in which a person is attracted to people of all gender identities and sexual orientations. The prefix “pan” means "all" in Greek, so people who identify as pansexual are attracted to people of all genders, including cisgender, transgender, genderqueer, agender, gender-fluid, and non-binary.
33. 33. Pegging: A sex act in which one person has anal sex with another person by penetrating them with a strap-on dildo. Pegging can be done by and to people of any gender or sexual orientation.
34. 34. Penis: A type of genitalia that includes a shaft, glans penis (or head), and frenulum. An uncircumcised penis will also include a fold of skin over the head called a foreskin. Those born with a penis are usually designated male at birth.
35. 35. Polyamory: The practice of engaging in multiple relationships (sexual or romantic) at one time; these relationships are called “polyamorous relationships.” Polyamory directly contrasts monogamy, in which a person is engaged romantically or sexually in one relationship at one time.
36. 36. Prostate orgasm: The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that produces the prostatic fluid that mixes with sperm to form ejaculate (or semen). Located in front of the rectum, between the bladder and the penis, the prostate includes muscles that expel semen through the urethra during ejaculation. In addition to its role in the reproductive system, this gland can be stimulated for sexual pleasure and produce intense prostate orgasms. In this capacity, the prostate has earned the nickname "the P-spot."
37. 37. Sexually transmitted infection (STI): An infection spread through sexual contact, whether by transmitting bodily fluids or genital skin-to-skin contact. Also called sexually transmitted disease (STD). There are several ways (termed “safe sex” methods) to reduce the chances of STI/STD spread, including condoms, non-penetrative sexual activities (like dry humping), and immunization.
38. 38. Threesome: Any sexual activity involving three consenting adults. This form of group sex can include participants of any gender. A threesome is also known as a threeway or a ménage à trois.
39. 39. Transgender: A person whose gender identity doesn’t match their assigned sex at birth (often shortened to “trans” or listed with their affirmed gender, e.g., “trans woman” or “trans man”). Some transgender people choose to undergo hormonal treatments or surgeries to match their gender identity, but others do not. Transitions between genders are often described using acronyms like FTM (female-to-male) or MTF (male-to-female). Transgender is a gender identity, and it may or may not inform a person’s sexual orientation or sexual preferences.
40. 40. Vulva: A type of genitalia that includes a vaginal opening, outer lips (labia majora), inner lips (labia minora), and a clitoris. Those born with a vulva are usually designated female at birth.

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