Sex toy glossary: the words that actually change a decision

Product listings in this category mix three kinds of word without marking the difference: real specifications, which you can verify and compare; terms of art, which mean something precise to people who already know them; and marketing adjectives, which are there to occupy the space where a specification would go. A listing that says platinum-cure silicone and IPX7 is telling you something. A listing that says body-safe, premium, velvet-touch is telling you that it would rather not.

This page defines the vocabulary the rest of this site uses, grouped by what the words are for. Where a term is a genuine specification, it says what to compare it against. Where it is an adjective, it says so.

Materials

• Silicone. The default good material: non-porous, inert, tolerates heat. Platinum-cure and tin-cure describe the catalyst used to set it; platinum-cure is the higher grade and the one premium makers state. If a listing says only "silicone", it may still be a blend.
• TPE and TPR. Thermoplastic elastomer and rubber: soft, stretchy, cheap, and porous. Porous means micro-channels that hold moisture and bacteria and cannot be sterilized, which is why these are single-user and have a lifespan measured in months rather than years.
• ABS plastic. Hard, non-porous, inert. The handle and the case material of most toys, and entirely fine as a contact surface.
• Stainless steel. Non-porous, sterilizable by boiling, compatible with every lubricant, and effectively permanent. 316 and 304 are the grades normally used; "stainless" with no grade on a cheap product may be plated base metal.
• Borosilicate glass. The same inert, sterilizable, every-lubricant profile as steel. Strong in normal use; a chip or a crack ends the toy’s life immediately.
• Jelly, PVC and "rubber". Older soft materials, porous, and historically associated with phthalate softeners. If a listing uses these words or avoids naming a material at all, treat it as the answer.
• Dual-density. A firm core inside a soft outer layer, so the toy compresses the way tissue does. It is the property that makes a large toy usable and it is almost never stated on cheap products.

Mechanisms

• Air pulse. A sealed chamber over the clitoral head with the air inside it moved back and forth. Not vibration: nothing presses and nothing rubs, which is why the response to it is close to binary.
• Rumbly and buzzy. Low-frequency, high-amplitude versus high-frequency, low-amplitude. Rumble travels further into tissue and is the quality people are describing when they say a strong toy feels like nothing. No brand publishes either figure.
• Thrusting. A shaft that moves along its own axis rather than vibrating. Mechanically more complex, noisier, and more likely to fail than a vibration motor.
• Come-hither. A motorized flexing motion aimed at the anterior vaginal wall rather than a vibration or a thrust.
• Wand. A large-head, high-amplitude vibrator originally built as a body massager. The format that still wins at the top end of power, and mains-powered models still beat cordless ones there.
• Sleeve and stroker. A soft open or closed tube for penile stimulation. Closed-end holds suction, open-end or quickshot vents and is far easier to clean.
• Teledildonics. Toys controlled remotely over the internet, usually through a phone app. The relevant question is never range but whether the app and the servers behind it still exist in five years.

Specifications you can actually check

• IPX ratings. A real standard. IPX4 is splash-resistant, IPX6 withstands jets, IPX7 survives immersion. Splash-resistant and submersible look identical on a photograph, and only one of them survives a tap.
• Circumference and diameter. The measurements that decide whether an insertable toy is usable, and the ones listings bury under length. Circumference compares directly to something you already own, with a piece of string.
• Shore hardness, or durometer. The firmness scale. Genuinely informative and published by almost nobody, which is why firmness comparisons on this site are described rather than numbered.
• Flared base. A base wider than the shaft, which is what prevents an anal toy being drawn fully inside. Not an optional feature at any size, and the single most common cause of an emergency room visit in this category.
• Body-safe. Not a specification and not certified by anybody. It is an adjective, and where it appears instead of a named material it is standing in for one.

Lubricant terms

• Water-based. The universal default: safe with every toy material and every condom, washes off, dries out and needs reapplying.
• Silicone-based. Lasts far longer and works in water, but can degrade a silicone toy surface. The damage is gradual, which is why people rarely connect the two.
• Oil-based. Long-lasting, and it destroys latex condoms. Also hard to wash out of porous materials.
• Osmolality. How much the lubricant pulls water out of tissue. High-osmolality products can irritate mucous membrane with repeated use. Rarely on the label and worth knowing the word for.
• Glycerin and parabens. Common ingredients that some people react to; glycerin in particular is associated with yeast issues for those prone to them. Not universal problems, but the first things to check when something stings.

Marketing words, translated

• Medical-grade silicone. No such grade exists for consumer toys. It usually means ordinary silicone.
• Hospital-grade. Same: not a standard that applies here.
• Hypoallergenic. Unregulated in this context, and no indication of what the material is.
• Ten intensity levels. A count of settings, not a measure of power. Two toys both advertising ten can differ by a factor of three at level one, and the first setting is the one that decides whether you keep the toy.
• Whisper-quiet. Measured sealed, in free air, or not at all. With a sleeve or an air-pulse toy, the loud moment is the broken seal, and no box quotes that.
• Waterproof. Meaningless on its own. The IPX rating is the claim; the word is the slogan.