This list of erotic hypnosis terms is designed to help you understand some of the strange and esoteric language that this kink and scene can use. It can often feel somewhat impenetrable for new people joining hypnokink. That’s where this alphabetical list of common terms comes in.

This list is not exhaustive, by any means, but it should be a helpful resource if you’re confused and don’t know where to ask! It does have lots of crossover with BDSM and other kinks, as well as vanilla hypnosis and psychology.

A

Abreaction – An emotional or negative reaction to being hypnotized.

Amnesia – Forgetting all or part of the experience of being in trance.

Anchoring – A technique used to create a different reaction to a specific event, image or stimulus.

Animal Magnetism – A theory put forward by Anton Mesmer of an invisible force that permeates all living things, which can be manipulated to induce trance.

Aphantasia – The inability to visualise mental images.

ASMR – Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. Sensations one feels involuntarily when exposed to certain stimuli, primarily audio.

B

Background – Audio files meant to be played while doing other activities.

Bimbo – Attractive, but unintelligent woman. A common trope in hypnokink.

Binaural – Both a recording using two microphones to create a 3D space, and a shorthand for binaural beats – different frequencies played on either side of a stereo audio source which are purported to change brainwaves, though further research is needed.

Body Control – The act of using hypnosis to control the physical motion of a person.

Brainwash – A psychological technique designed to manipulate action or thought against a person’s will, altering beliefs or behaviours.

Brat – A submissive who fights back against the control of a dominant in a scene.

C

CEI – Cum Eating Instruction. The fetishisation of consumption of semen.

Chastity – The act of abstaining from physical stimulation of the genitals. Sometimes using a specific device to stop touching.

Clicker – A dog training tool that makes a loud ‘click’ sound when a button is pressed. Popular among hypnokink fans.

Conditioning – A process of learning to associate stimuli, such as action and a reward, to create a new response to a given stimulus. For example, associating a bell with salivating with hunger.

Confusion – A hypnosis technique that presents multiple modes of thinking or ideas to elicit a confused response from the subject.

Conversational – An induction technique that weaves hypnotic language into regular speech patterns.

Corruption – The fetishisation of becoming something different, often dangerous or taboo and leaning into breaking personal boundaries.

Countdown – The use of counting numbers backward to elicit or deepen a trance state.

Covert – An induction that’s hidden and intended to trance the subject without their knowledge.

Curse – Hypnosis that builds a post-hypnotic suggestion that compels the subject to take a particular action, often one they find undesirable but do fetishise.

D

Deepener – A hypnotic technique that makes the subject feel more entranced after an initial induction.

Dissociation – The theory that conscious and unconscious awareness can effectively be split to allow the hypnotist to impact the subconscious mind directly.

Dom/Domme – Dominant, the person taking control of the scene, file, trance, etc.

Drone – A machine or robot-esque state created in a subject through hypnosis.

Drop – A common trigger word, that allows instant trance in a subject when conditioned.

E

Edging – Masturbation or sex that aims to reach the point just prior to orgasm and stopping before climax.

Ericksonian – A conversational induction style characterised by permissive language (you may find), metaphors, and indirect suggestions.

Esdaile State – A state of deep relaxation where the subject is fully unresponsive. Used for surgery without anaesthesia in the 19th century.

Eye Fixation – Induction or focus technique where the hypnotist suggests their subject look into and concentrate on their eyes.

F

F4A – Femme (Female presenting or identifying) or Female for All, any gender.

F4F – Femme or Female for Femme or Female.

F4M – Femme or Female for Masc or Male

Femdom – Female Domination, a scene where a woman is in control.

Finger Snaps – The act of slipping a finger over the thumb to produce a snapping sound. Popular in hypnokink.

Fractionation – The act of putting a subject in trance, bringing them out, and repeating that process rapidly, to increase the potency of the times in trance and emphasise contrast.

Freeze Play – Using hypnosis to keep a person locked in position or place. Also called statue play.

G

Gaslighting – Manipulating someone into questioning their reality.

Gooning – A trance-like state brought on by masturbating without orgasm for an extended period of time.

H

HFO – Hands Free Orgasm. The act of having an orgasm without stimulating an intimate area.

Himbo – Male equivalent of bimbo. Attractive but unintelligent.

Hucow – Human Cow. A kink for acting like a cow, often focused on being treated like an animal or livestock.

Hypnosis – The techniques and methods used to create, maintain and end a trance, state, install triggers, and help subjects to relax. Often seen as a state of heightened focus and attention.

Hypnotist – A person who uses hypnosis, triggers, etc.

I

Identity Play – Kink for having one’s identity changed into something or someone else. Bimbo hypnosis is an example.

Ideomotor Response – Subtle, involuntary motion in response to mental imagery or suggestions. Thoughts influencing action.

Induction – The process used by a hypnotist to help a subject enter a trance state.

IQ Reduction – A popular hypnotic effect that makes the subject feel less intelligent, generally for a short time.

J

JOI – Jerk Off Instruction. Direct commands to masturbate, sometimes including very direct instruction for how to do that.

K

Kaa – The hypnotic snake character from Disney classic, The Jungle Book. An oft-cited gateway to hypnokink.

L

Level Drain – A kink for being depowered, playing on video game tropes of high levels meaning strength and experience.

Loop – Content meant to be listened to repeatedly.

Lucid Dreaming – A dream that you can control your actions in.

M

M4A – Male or Masc (male identifying/presenting) for All, any gender.

M4F – Male or Masc for Female or Femme.

M4M – Male or Masc for Male or Masc.

Mantras – Phrases spoken repeatedly.

Mind Control – Using a specific power, ability, or object to fully control the mind, actions or thoughts of another. Not possible, but a popular trope.

N

NB4A – Non-Binary for All, any gender.

Neuroplasticity – The means by which the human brain can form new connections, adapt and change through life.

NLP – Neuro-Linguistic Programming. A pseudo-scientific communication method that suggests thought, language and action are connected and can be manipulated for rapid learning, healing, etc. It is heavily criticised scientifically.

O

Objectification – Treating a subject like an object, or hypnotically transforming them into one. Or both.

Orgasm Control – Using hypnosis to control when a subject can climax.

Overload – An induction technique that encourages the subject to focus on multiple sensory inputs at the same time in order to occupy the conscious mind.

P

Pet Play – Treating the subject like, or making them feel and act like a pet, such as a dog or cat.

Poison Ivy – A hypnotic supervillain from DC Comics with powers involving pheromones, vine bondage and mind controlling kisses.

Pocketwatch – A classic hypnosis trope; a swinging pocketwatch used as an object to fixate on.

Possession – The subject’s body feeling hypnotically ‘possessed’ by the hypnotist, giving the hypnotist control over their body.

Post-Hypnotic Suggestion – A suggestion given during trance that affects the subject later, outside of that trance.

Prejac – Premature Ejaculation. A kink for orgasming too quickly.

Pre-Talk – A conversation held before any hypnosis occurs to establish the goals and limits of any session.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation – An induction that relies on relaxing body parts in turn to give the subject a full body relaxation sensation.

Q

R

Reality Distortion – Altering the subject’s experience of the world around them through hypnosis.

Relaxation – A critical element in hypnosis much of, but not all the time, the feeling of the body losing tension, like falling asleep.

Resistance Play – Hypnosis that allows the subject to fight the urge to fall into trance, or to accept the suggestions given.

Reverse Psychology – Use of contradicting statements that encourage the subject to do something by suggesting the opposite.

Ruined Orgasm – At the moment of climax, ending stimulation to deliver a disappointing, unsatisfying orgasm.

S

Self-Hypnosis – Hypnosis practiced alone, akin to meditation but more focused and directed toward a goal.

Serial Recruitment – Hypnosis that encourages the subject to find more hypnotic subjects.

Seven +/- Two – An induction built on the idea that the human mind can only remember a set number of items in short term memory, and slightly overloading that.

Shock Induction – An induction that involves a sudden and surprising action, which triggers trance rapidly.

SPH – Small Penis Humiliation. A kink for those with male genitalia who enjoy being insulted for being less endowed than others.

Subconscious – See also; Unconscious. The part of the mind that is not currently aware. Freud described this as “something lying in the mind beneath consciousness.”

Subject – The person being hypnotized.

Subliminals – Generally, vocal layers mixed low in a hypnosis audio designed to reinforce the themes or ideas of the main hypnosis, or perhaps to subvert them.

Suggestion – An idea implanted in a subject during trance that is designed to elicit an action, feeling, or response.

T

TF4A – Trans Femme/Female for All.

Time Dilation – Using hypnosis to alter the subject’s perception of the passage of time.

TM4A – Trans Masc/Male for All.

Trance – A state of semi-awareness in which a subject is unresponsive to external stimulu, or following the specific directions of a hypnotist.

Trigger – A stimulus such as a phrase or action that causes a subject to automatically respond. Delivered while under trance, but often functioning outside the hypnosis itself.

U

Unconscious Mind – An alternative phrasing for subconscious mind.

V

Vigilance – The idea that a part of the mind is still aware and can detect danger or threats, even while hypnotized.

Voice Kink – Arousal from a specific voice, or voice type. For example, being aroused by an accent.

W

Wakener – The act of bringing a subject out of a hypnotic trance and returning them to regular thought patterns.

Waking Trance – A trance that is experienced while fully awake. Highway hypnosis, where a driver can navigate home with little memory of the journey, is an example of this.

X

Y

Yes Set – A hypnotic technique that aims to make the subject feel more agreeable and suggestible by asking a series of questions with the same answer; yes.

Z

Zombie – A hypnosis trope, to be made a ‘mindless zombie’ with arms raised and no thoughts.