A person who engages with kink, regardless of their role(s) or lack thereof.
"Kinkster" may be used by someone who doesn’t want to define their identity by role, who is reserving their role for conversation, who identifies with multiple roles, or who is still developing their fetish identity.
You might also describe a group of people with various different roles between them as being kinksters.
When it comes to being labeled as a kinkster, self-identification is key. Someone becomes a kinkster when they recognize themselves or their behavior as kinky. Many people enjoy kinky activities without considering themselves a kinkster. It is often (but not always) when they join the kinky community that they take on this label.
Origins of the Term
The word "kinkster" is a slang word that first appeared around 1965 to refer to people with "unconventional" sexual practices.
Kink itself originally meant a twist in a rope, and stems from Dutch. Over time, its meaning evolved to refer to a person with a fetish or paraphilia, or a "sexually abnormal person." Its earliest use in this context was as early as 1803! In more recent years, what may have been more of a pejorative term has been reclaimed by kinky people.
