Picture this: You just can’t get over a crush you stole glances at or a coworker you instantly bonded with over some beer. And you end up having a good time with them, again and again, till you can’t seem to get off the heady joyride. Or, your ex keeps coming back to you from time to time and you keep getting intimate with them every single time they return. These aren’t just passing phases but some of the most intriguing types of situationships.

These situationships can be a whole lot of fun till the people involved are on the same page. But if one person develops feelings (and someone usually does), things can get messy pretty soon. The worst part is, you may struggle to make sense of what it is that you’re dealing with. So, if you’ve ever been in a romantic situationship or a friends-with-benefits scenario but are confused about whether you are actually in a situationship, this article is for you. Read on to get a detailed overview of the different types of situationships and their signs.

What Is Considered A Situationship?

Before we get on to the different types of situationships, let’s look at the situationship meaning. Well, since the dynamics are fluid, there is no strict definition of a situationship. It’s perhaps a relationship that you are unable to define or put a label on. Some features are common to all situationships, regardless of their type:

• In a situationship, two people can be friendly, sexual, or deeply in love, but aren’t a couple
• Unlike a relationship, there are no commitments here and partners can choose to be as free or committed as they wish
• Situationships can be ended out of the blue, unlike relationships, where one is expected to offer a closure
• Despite the uncertainty, situationships provide a sense of comfort, and in some cases, emotional and physical relief too
• In the modern era, where most people have no time or energy to figure out their feelings or be in real relationships, situationships become a safe realm where there are no questions asked and no strings attached

Related Reading: Push Pull Relationship – 9 Ways To Overcome It

15 Types Of Situationships And Their Signs

In this era of fluid relationship terms and concepts, situationships too offer a lot of variety. However, they can often begin and end randomly. For a lucky few, such situationships can continue for a long time and turn into authentic friendships or romantic relationships. And guess what, you might already be in some form of situationship, without even realizing it. 

Do you have a friend you end up making out with after a night of partying? Or a coworker with whom you have been intimate more than once but that’s all there is to it? Well, haven’t we all had such relationships with blurred boundaries? They just tend to happen, often when we aren’t actively seeking anything. But when do these connections qualify as a situationship? To help you find the answer, here are some common types of situationships and their signs to look out for:

1. The long-distance situationship

In a long-distance situationship, two people separated by distance may not be in an official relationship but may have feelings for each other.

Signs of a long-distance situationship

Such situationships can be emotionally taxing, as both partners may have certain expectations that can’t be fulfilled due to the distance between them. You know you’re in a long-distance relationship when:

• You live in different cities or countries but have regular deep conversations through phone, text, and video calls
• You share a strong bond but both of you are afraid of emotionally investing in it because of the fear that it may not work out because of the distance 
• You may have moments of intimacy, albeit virtually 

Related Reading: Getting Drunk On Dates Vs Staying Sober: What’s better?

2. Friends with benefits

Popularized by Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake in the popular Hollywood movie of the same name, friends with benefits is a concept that Gen-Z is not a stranger to. Sex is a basic need, and it’s only natural that people would want to satiate this urge even when they don’t have a special someone in their lives.

Signs of a friends with benefits situationship

People in such situationships get easy access to sex without the complications of being a couple. But it’s more than an ONS relationship. As wonderful as it might sound, this situationship can easily become messy if one person starts to fall for the other. It can end up in broken friendships as well as heartbreak. 

A Reddit user, who has been in a FWB situation, says, “We only ever met up to have sex and when I wanted to do other activities, he put them down because he didn’t want to act like a couple. He was emotionally unavailable to the max. The connection itself was intense, strong chemistry and physical compatibility”

So, here are some signs of a friends with benefits situationship:

• Your situationship extends to sex and sex alone. No commitment, no jealousy, only fun
• There is intoxicating chemistry but no future beyond the bed
• You are friends by the day and sexual partners by night
• You love them but not more than any other friend
• You can be there for each other in tough times but both don’t wish to take it to the next level or commit to a relationship with each other

3.  The drunk situationship

Alcohol is known to lower inhibitions, which can bring out the sides of your personality we typically keep tucked away. While some people get loud and boisterous when drunk, others become lustful. And, hence begins a drunk camaraderie with a friend, a coworker, or an ex. This is often labeled a mistake when people get sober. 

Signs of a drunk situationship

There are some characteristics that are common to all drunk situationships. Here are some signs of such situations:

• Most often, the only time you get together is when you (or both) are drunk
• The situationship usually swings between drunk sexting and drunk sex
• You might also spill your heart out to them when you are sloshed
• They can be an acquaintance, a friend, or someone you are attracted to, without any scope of a romantic attachment
• You can also get into a drunk situationship with a stranger while on a trip. In that case, it may just lead to an ONS relationship

Related Reading: 13 Sure-Shot Signs A Casual Relationship Is Getting Serious

4. The rebound situationship

So, you’re fresh out of a relationship and now miss the connection you shared with your ex. We get it! We’ve all been through rebound relationships at some stage of life, no matter how such toxic situationships affect us later in life. A Reddit user says, “When you go through a breakup, it’s natural to feel lonely or want to fill that void with someone new. However, rebounds can sometimes be a temporary distraction from the pain rather than a healthy, long-term connection.”

Signs of a rebound situationship

Such situationships that stem from a desperation to connect can be detrimental to your mental well-being, as they rob you of the peace that a real relationship could’ve brought. Some such signs are:

• You or your situationship partner ended a long-term relationship just before you two got together
• There is a constant comparison between former partners
• Both end up talking a lot about your ex/es
• Both say “I love you” and “I miss you” regularly, without actually feeling the words

5.  The ‘just crushing forever’ situationship

The most innocuous types of situationships are crushes. It revolves around wooing each other without explicitly flirting. It isn’t always romantic but people tend to daydream about the other. 

Signs of a ‘just crushing forever’ situationship

Such situationships aren’t any less exhilarating than falling in love too fast. The attraction is usually based on physical attributes and sexual allure. Here are some signs of such situationships:

• You are still swinging between sneaky glances and hidden smiles
• There’s light banter and healthy flirting too
• There’s a high probability that your crush doesn’t have a clue about your feelings toward them
• You are either afraid to ask them out or you just want to keep the situationship limited to admiring them from afar

Related Reading: How To Woo A Girlfriend? What Does It Mean To Woo Someone

6.  The ‘your go-to savior’ situationship

A peculiar form of situationship is when two people rely on each other for everything but aren’t romantically involved. Their relationship is platonic and is purely based on emotional and other support. Recall Sandra Bullock pretending to be Ryan Reynolds’s girlfriend for residency in The Proposal? Well, that’s exactly what this is.

Signs of a ‘your go-to savior’ situationship

It’s a trope imposed by rom-coms. But unlike in films, this situationship doesn’t necessarily end with a ‘happily ever after’ in real life. Some signs of such situationships are as follows:

• You only hit each other up on special occasions or when you need them
• They are your ‘plus one’ at office parties and friendly get-togethers
• You bring them around to keep your family off your back
• You might flirt or indulge in sexual activities sometimes, but there is no scope of a relationship
• You both do each other favors, either socially or financially

7. The office situationship

Such situationships occur between people only because they share the same workplace. Most of these office romance situationships may not see the light of the day, as office situationships are mostly hush-hush.

Signs of an office situationship

A situation that arises due to professional proximity may not be the best option for both the parties involved, as both their careers might be in jeopardy if it’s ever found out. Plus, such situationships may cause a lot of emotional stress if they end badly. Some signs of such a situationship are as follows:

• The risk of being found out makes both of you keep the situationship a secret from your friends and coworkers
• You are guarded about when and where to meet, and you usually meet away from your workplace or at your respective homes
• You try and avoid talking to each other at work, to avoid raising suspicions, but do smile at each other or make suggestive eye contact at work occasionally

8. The ex-tuationship

This is when you’re hooked on to an ex that you can’t let go of. So, it’s more of an on-again-off-again situationship that can cause long-term emotional distress. 

Signs of an ex-tuationship

Such toxic situationships can wreak havoc on your mental peace. Some signs of an ex-tuationship are:

• You and your ex keep going back to each other from time to time
• You have unresolved conflicts that cause rifts, but the emotional and physical high of having a partner makes you two get together often
• Your ex-tuationship doesn’t let either you or your partner get into other healthy long-term relationships
• Both of you keep track of each other’s activities, both online and offline
• You vanish from each other’s lives for a while, only to get back when things get tough

Related Reading: The 8 Rules Of Dating Multiple People At One Time

9.  The casual flirtationship

This is perhaps the safest of all situationships. This is when both of you know you share a spark and care about each other, but you also aren’t ‘just friends’ and hang out with each other quite often.

Signs of a casual flirtationship

• You go on casual dates or trips, where you enjoy good food and light banter
• You know each other’s secrets, even sexual ones
• You aren’t physically intimate yet but share raunchy jokes and fantasies
• You both know you aren’t serious but still live for the moment
• There are no expectations or plans
• There’s no pressure of exclusivity

My coworker, Brendon, was in one such situationship. He loved it throughout and was rather happy when his situationship partner, Alice, ended it when she moved cities to pursue a Management degree. There were no hard feelings.

10. The convenience situationship

This type of situationship is based on convenience. Now, such conveniences can be because of multiple reasons and it may even be a mutual decision of the couple to go ahead with this sort of arrangement.

Signs of a convenience situationship

In such situationships, people will only meet to have a chat over coffee or even get into a physical relationship but only occasionally, when both are free. They won’t change their plans to be with each other or make time for each other. Some such signs of a convenience situationship are:

• When there’s a lack of time to meet up regularly (when both or one of them is overworked)
• When there’s a lack of connection or chemistry but there’s also an urge to be physically intimate
• When there’s a total lack of feelings or emotions but there’s also the willingness to enjoy each other’s company or collaborate in personal or professional spheres

Related Reading: 20 Signs He Wants To Be More Than Friends

11. The passionate situationship

This is mostly a romantic situationship wherein both the people involved have intense feelings for each other but can’t move forward. 

Signs of a passionate situationship

Passionate situationships can bring in the dopamine hit of romantic relationships but can be frustrating in the long run if one of the partners wants to take things to the next level. This is what passionate situationships look like:

• Both or one of you isn’t ready for a serious relationship for some reason but you end up acknowledging the passionate connection
• There is a difference in lifestyle and both aren’t ready to adjust 
• Both of you are in it because of passionate sex
• It’s sort of an exclusive situationship in most cases

12. The one-sided situationship

This type of situationship (one-sided relationship) occurs when one of them is ready to take things forward but the other isn’t. And this can have various reasons.

Signs of a one-sided situationship

Such situationships can leave you confused and devastated if you’re the one clinging on to that tiny ray of hope that the other person might say ‘yes’ someday. Some of the signs of a one-sided situationship are when:

• One of you hopes the other will change their mind
• One of you is in a relationship with another partner, and the other continues to woo 
• One of you is silent about their feelings, so as not to ruin the connection/friendship

Related Reading: 8 Ways To Make One-Sided Love Successful

13. The almost-relationship situationship

This type of situationship is where two people are almost in a committed relationship. However, they are yet to make it official. This could be because of various reasons.

Signs of an almost-relationship situationship

Such an exclusive situationship almost always turns into a real relationship later. Some of the signs of such situationships are:

• When you aren’t yet ready for a commitment and keep “going with the flow”
• When you are more focused on your career and don’t wish to “label” the relationship
• When you feel you need to work on the baggage of previous relationships 

14. The commitment-phobic situationship

This is a situationship that stems from commitment issues. In such situationships, people may spend time together but stay away from long-term commitment. 

Signs of a commitment-phobic situationship

In case one partner is commitment-phobic, it can be frustrating for the other partner who’s willing to commit. Some of the signs of an almost-relationship situationship are:

• Unwillingness to get into a serious relationship for fear of the responsibilities that come with it
• Wallowing in self-pity due to past baggage or trauma from previous relationships
• Lack of maturity to get into a committed relationship

My friend, Anna, who was in one such situationship, ultimately decided to end it. “It was getting nowhere and was eating into my peace of mind. I started catching feelings for him, but he wasn’t ready for a commitment. I eventually had to let him go,” she says.

Related Reading: What Is Fear Of Commitment And How To Deal With It – Advice From An Expert

15. The in-denial situationship

When two people like each other and spend time with each other but are in denial of the fact that something is brewing between them, it’s called an in-denial situationship.

Signs of an in-denial situationship

In-denial situationships are scary, as they may create unnecessary misunderstandings between two people. This is worse when one of them wishes the other would go ahead and say something, while the other remains silent about the whole situation. Some such signs are:

• Staying aloof intermittently because of a fear of rejection 
• Maintaining distance from time to time because of a fear of a long-term commitment
• Lack of courage to acknowledge the real feelings

Final Thoughts

Any relationship that you can’t describe or label can be termed a situationship. People can get into situationships with friends, coworkers, and even strangers. The length, intensity, reciprocity, and after-effects of such situationships vary. It’s on you to keep it as simple, healthy, and hassle-free as possible. 

We hope our list of the types of situationships and their signs will help you find out if you’re actually in one. Try to acknowledge your emotions and communicate them with your situationship partner, and you’re already free of most of the trouble that can crop up in such situations. Most importantly, make sure you are safe and are enjoying the process!

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