painplay

P3A1I1N1P3L1A1Y4

noun

Any sexual practice involving the intentional infliction of pain.

Scrabble 15
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Meanings

nounpainplay (uncountable)
  1. uncountableBDSMAny sexual practice involving the intentional infliction of pain.

    I do not have much experience with painplay, and am not sure how much I'll be able to take, but I'm prepared to find out.

    1996 December 17, k'Shandra, “Reflections on Safewording (long)”, in alt.sex.bondage (Usenet)
    2 more examples

    I was originally into plain old bondage, but have found that both submission and painplay are things that I can eroticize.

    2000 December 24, Sockermom9 [username], “Re: Psycology^([sic]) of BDSM”, in soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm (Usenet)

    But I'm curious -- what got you started doing BDSM? What fantasies were intense enough to drive you to try painplay in the first place?

    2002 June 24, Janet Hardy, “Re: sub vs bottom”, in soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm (Usenet)

Origin

From pain + play.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

painplay. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/painplay

MLA

“painplay.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/painplay. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “painplay,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/painplay.

Source: painplay on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.