Switch
A switch is someone who enjoys and moves between both dominant and submissive roles in BDSM and kink dynamics, rather than holding one fixed role.
Within BDSM and kink communities, and in dating and hookup profiles that reference kink compatibility, a switch is a person who is not fixed into either the dominant ("dom" or "top") or submissive ("sub" or "bottom") role, and who enjoys or is willing to take on either depending on the partner, scene, or mood. Role is typically negotiated ahead of a given encounter rather than assumed by default, meaning a switch may take a dominant role with one partner and a submissive role with another, or alternate roles with the same partner across different encounters. "Switch" is closely related to, but distinct from, "versatile" (often shortened to "vers"), a term more common in gay dating-app culture that describes flexibility in sexual positioning specifically; "switch" is the more standard term within BDSM and kink communities generally, where it centers on power-exchange role (who leads a scene) rather than physical positioning alone. On dating and hookup platforms, listing "switch" functions as a compatibility signal, letting a person indicate role flexibility upfront rather than requiring a partner to guess or ask directly, which is especially relevant in kink-aware dating spaces where role compatibility is treated as a significant factor in whether two people are a good match.