situationship

English

Etymology

From situation +‎ -ship or a blend of situational +‎ relationship.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌsɪt͡ʃuˈeɪʃənʃɪp/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌsɪtʃuˈeɪʃənʃɪp/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

situationship (plural situationships)

1. (neologism, informal) A romantic or sexual relationship in which the parties involved do not clearly define their relationship as such, but for example consider it "complicated" or a friends with benefits-type situation.
   • 2016, Lerato Tshabalala, The Way I See It: The Musings of a Black Woman in the Rainbow Nation, page 110:

     The thing about being in a situationship – and this is a big thing – is that because you exist in that no-man's-land, the rules of engagement are not spelt out.

   • 2017, Jamila Jasper, The Situationship: BWWM Romance Novel, Publisher s23991 (→ISBN):

     “Might you be pregnant?” I scoffed. “Listen Miss James, I know that you know that my personal life is a mess. There's no way I could be pregnant.” “Mark?” “What about Mark?” “Look, I know you're in a situationship with him...” I sighed, “Listen, Mark and I are friends. And anything that happens between us is very well secured against this.” Dawn shrugged, “Accidents happen.” “Not to me they don't,” I retorted.

   • 2021 January 10, Valeriya Safronova, “True Stories of Hooking Up During Covid-19”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     “I needed a ‘situationship,’” said Ms. Stevenson, a 31-year-old comedian and writer in Los Angeles. “A person I can rely on and trust to hang out with once a week.”

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:situationship.