Meanings
- slanguncountablelifestyleSlash fan fiction focusing on a romantic and/or sexual relationship between characters of unequal social status or rank.
Although the second most popular pairing in Potter slash fandom, Snape/Harry (or Snarry), could be categorized as enemyslash, it is also a prime example of powerslash.
2013, Janidean Bruner, "I 'like' slash: the demographics of Facebook slash communities", thesis submitted to the University of Louisville, page 102 more examples
The second most popular Potter slash pairing is Harry/Snape, which belongs to the powerslash category, and again defies findings of early fan fiction studies focusing on buddyslash.
2010, Sigrid Sindhuber, "Slashing Harry Potter: The phenomenon of border-transgression in fan fiction", thesis submitted to the University of Vienna, page 67Order of the Phoenix featured Harry and Snape (a powerslash pairing par excellence) forced to become uncomfortably intimate with each other: Snape is teaching Harry how to prevent Voldemort from reading his thoughts by...reading Harry's thoughts; […]
2011, Catherine Tosenberger, “Homosexuality at the Online Hogwarts: Harry Potter Slash Fanfiction”, in Michelle Ann Abate, Kenneth B. Kidd, editors, Over the Rainbow: Queer Children's and Young Adult Literature, →ISBN, page 343
Origin
Cite this entry
powerslash. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/powerslash
“powerslash.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/powerslash. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “powerslash,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/powerslash.
Source: powerslash on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.