situationship

American  

[sich-oo-ey-shuhn-ship] / ˌsɪtʃ uˈeɪ ʃən ʃɪp /

noun

Informal.

1. a romantic or sexual relationship that its participants have not defined, and which can also lack commitment or exclusivity.

   After two years of a messy situationship, she was looking for someone who wanted to settle down.

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Etymology

Origin of situationship

First recorded in 2005–10; situation ( def. ) + (relation)ship ( def. )

Example Sentences

Next to all that, a rocky relationship styled into an on-and-off situationship for a reality TV subplot is the proverbial hill of beans Rick Blaine mentioned in “Casablanca.”

From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026

Her dating life was the definition of the situationship, before that was even a thing.

From BBC • Feb. 7, 2025

Therefore, it’s crucial to give yourself the same amount of time, space and grace to heal from a situationship as you would an official relationship.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2024

Today, Laufey reads Coco Mellors’s essay, “An Anxious Person Tries to Be Chill,” which is about a woman trying to work through her deep-seated relationship anxieties and attachment issues in an on-again, off-again situationship.

From New York Times • Apr. 24, 2024

We had a situationship for about five months, and then it faded.

From Slate • Nov. 16, 2022