There Are 5 Types Of Situationship. Which Are You In?

If you have never heard the dating term “situationship,” 1) consider yourself lucky, and 2) allow us to explain.

The term is used to define a relationship that isn’t, well, defined. It’s less than an established relationship and more than a friendship, though I’d argue “friends with benefits” doesn’t count as a situationship, because that can have clear terms.

“Situationships”, meanwhile, are often characterised by mismatched intention, uncertainty, and frustration. Most daters seem to want to avoid situationships; they are something singles sometimes fall into.

But according to a 2025 survey of 1,000 people in the UK by greetings card marketplace thortful, more and more daters are ending up in situationships. In fact, searches for “situationship quotes for him/her” have doubled on their site.

Of those in situationships, their survey found these were the most common types:

This involves “texting and flirting ending by becoming official or fading out”.

You might never meet a “talking stage” in person. Most of the contact is online or through text and calls: it’s not unlike a “textationship”. These can go on for years with zero IRL contact, and may sometimes lead daters to think their time has been wasted.

In this case, a pair might “act like a couple, but never have the label or commitment”.

This can sometimes lead to difficult not-quite-breakups.

In this case, there’s no physical element to the relationship. Instead, a pair might experience a “deep emotional connection” without any commitment or sexual contact.

It can feel like an undecided “flirty friendship” that leaves you with a lot of uncertainty.

These “exist due to proximity only”: you might get with someone when you two are close together, but for at least one party, that geographical convenience is the biggest factor in the relationship.

It’s similar to “zip-coding”.

In this case, “you’re filling time until something ‘better’ comes along”, thortful said.

It might involve “Shrekking,” or choosing someone you don’t think is as attractive as you, because you believe that might mean they’ll be grateful for your time. Speaking to HuffPost UK previously, psychologist Dr Carolina Estevez said: “These trends normalise dishonesty and avoidance, eroding trust and self-esteem and lowering relationship satisfaction”.