Bottom vs. Submissive — What's the Difference?
By Fiza Rafique & Urooj Arif — Updated on May 6, 2024
"Bottom" refers to a role in a BDSM context, typically associated with receiving actions, while "submissive" describes a person who consents to relinquish control to a dominant partner, emphasizing the psychological aspect of power dynamics.
Difference Between Bottom and Submissive
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
In the context of BDSM activities, the term "bottom" specifically refers to the role assumed by a person who receives physical sensations or actions, such as being tied up or spanked. This role focuses more on the physical aspect of the activities rather than the power dynamics. On the other hand, a "submissive" engages in a broader psychological relationship of power exchange, where they willingly give up control to a dominant partner. This involves a deeper layer of trust and communication, as it encompasses both physical and emotional elements of surrender.
While a bottom might enjoy the sensation or act itself, a submissive is invested in the surrender of power and control to another. The distinction highlights the difference between physical preference in psychological inclination towards power dynamics. For example, someone can identify as a bottom without feeling submissive, enjoying the physical aspects without the need for a power exchange.
Submissive roles are often part of a larger framework of D/s (dominance and submission) relationships, which require explicit consent, negotiation, and communication about limits and desires. These relationships can extend beyond physical activities, influencing aspects of daily life and personal interactions. In contrast, being a bottom is generally limited to specific activities or scenes and does not necessarily imply a broader dynamic of power exchange.
The dynamic between a dominant and submissive involves a consensual exchange of power, where both parties agree upon the terms and conditions of their interaction, highlighting the importance of consent and mutual respect in BDSM relationships. Bottoming, while also requiring consent and communication, focuses more on the actions performed and the sensations experienced during a scene.
Comparison Chart
Focus
Physical sensations and activities.
Psychological dynamics of power and control.
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Role in BDSM
Specific to activities or scenes, not necessarily involving power dynamics.
Encompasses a broader dynamic of power exchange, extending beyond physical activities.
Consent and Communication
Essential for negotiating activities and limits within scenes.
Crucial for establishing the power dynamic, limits, desires, and possibly aspects of daily life.
Relationship to Dominance
Does not inherently involve submission or dominance.
Inherently involves a relationship of submission to a dominant partner.
Compare with Definitions
Bottom
Essential to negotiate consent and limits.
Even as a bottom, clear communication about boundaries and safe words is vital.
Submissive
Requires deep trust and communication.
Being a submissive requires establishing clear boundaries and trust with a dominant partner.
Bottom
Does not necessarily involve power dynamics.
They're a bottom in terms of preference for physical activities, not in their relationship dynamics.
Submissive
Relationship to dominance is inherent.
Her role as a submissive is defined by the consensual power dynamic with her dominant partner.
Bottom
The lowest point or part of something
The bottom of the page
She paused at the bottom of the stairs
Submissive
Involves a psychological dynamic of power.
She enjoys the submissive role for the emotional and psychological exchange of power.
Bottom
A person's buttocks
He climbs the side of the gorge, scratching his bottom unselfconsciously
Submissive
A person who consents to give up control to a dominant partner.
As a submissive, he found fulfillment in the psychological aspect of surrendering control.
Bottom
One of six flavours of quark.
Submissive
Inclined or willing to submit.
Bottom
Stamina or strength of character
Whatever his faults, he possesses that old-fashioned quality—bottom
Submissive
Obedient or passive.
Bottom
A man who takes the passive role in anal intercourse with another man.
Submissive
(BDSM) One who submits to a dominant partner in BDSM practices.
Bottom
In the lowest position
The books on the bottom shelf
Submissive
(rare) One who submits.
Bottom
(of a ship) reach or touch the ground under the sea
Nuclear submarines cannot bottom
Submissive
Inclined or ready to submit; acknowledging one's inferiority; yielding; obedient; humble.
Not at his feet submissive in distress,Creature so fair his reconcilement seeking.
Bottom
(of a situation) reach the lowest point before stabilizing or improving
Encouraging signs suggested the recession was bottoming out
Submissive
Showing a readiness to submit; expressing submission; as, a submissive demeanor.
With a submissive step I hasted down.
Bottom
The deepest or lowest part
The bottom of a well.
The bottom of the page.
Submissive
Inclined or willing to submit to orders or wishes of others or showing such inclination;
Submissive servants
A submissive reply
Replacing troublemakers with more submissive people
Bottom
The part closest to a reference point
Was positioned at the bottom of the key for a rebound.
Submissive
Willing to submit without resistance to authority; deferent
Bottom
The underside
Scraped the bottom of the car on a rock.
Submissive
Abjectly submissive; characteristic of a slave or servant;
Slavish devotion to her job ruled her life
A slavish yes-man to the party bosses
She has become submissive and subservient
Bottom
The supporting part; the base.
Bottom
The far end or part
At the bottom of the bed.
Bottom
The last place, as on a list.
Bottom
The lowest or least favorable position
Started at the bottom of the corporate hierarchy.
Bottom
The basic underlying quality; the source
Let's get to the bottom of the problem.
Bottom
The solid surface under a body of water.
Bottom
Often bottoms Low-lying alluvial land adjacent to a river. Also called bottomland.
Bottom
(Nautical) The part of a ship's hull below the water line.
Bottom
A ship; a boat
"English merchants did much of their overseas trade in foreign bottoms" (G.M. Trevelyan).
Bottom
Often bottoms The trousers or short pants of pajamas.
Bottom
(Informal) The buttocks.
Bottom
The seat of a chair.
Bottom
(Baseball) The second or last half of an inning.
Bottom
Staying power; stamina. Used of a horse.
Bottom
Situated at the bottom
The bottom rung of the ladder.
Bottom
Of the lowest degree, quality, rank, or amount
The bottom three teams in the league.
Bottom
To provide with an underside.
Bottom
To provide with a foundation; base
Jurisprudence that is bottomed on democratic principles.
Bottom
To have or strike the underside against something
The car bottomed on the gravel.
Bottom
The lowest part of anything.
Footers appear at the bottoms of pages.
Bottom
A garment worn to cover the body below the torso.
There's a hole in her pyjama bottoms.
Bottom
Spirits poured into a glass before adding soda water.
A soda and a bottom of brandy
Bottom
The far end of somewhere.
There’s a fairy at the bottom of my garden.
I walked to the bottom of the street.
Bottom
Character, reliability, staying power, dignity, integrity or sound judgment.
Lack bottom
Bottom
Power of endurance.
Bottom
The base; the fundamental part; basic aspect.
Bottom
Low-lying land; a valley or hollow.
Where shall we go for a walk? How about Ashcombe Bottom?
Bottom
(usually: bottoms or bottomland) Low-lying land near a river with alluvial soil.
Bottom
(euphemism) The buttocks or anus.
Bottom
The lowest part of a container.
Bottom
The bed of a body of water, as of a river, lake, or sea.
Bottom
An abyss.
Bottom
(nautical) A cargo vessel, a ship.
Bottom
(nautical) Certain parts of a vessel, particularly the cargo hold or the portion of the ship that is always underwater.
Bottom
(baseball) The second half of an inning, the home team's turn at bat.
Bottom
(particle physics) bottom quark.
Bottom
A ball or skein of thread; a cocoon.
Bottom
(obsolete) Dregs or grounds; lees; sediment.
Bottom
(transitive) To furnish (something) with a bottom.
To bottom a chair
Bottom
(transitive) To pour spirits into (a glass to be topped up with soda water).
Bottom
(obsolete) To wind (like a ball of thread etc.).
Bottom
(transitive) To establish or found (something) on or upon.
Bottom
To lie on the bottom of; to underlie, to lie beneath.
Bottom
To be based or grounded.
Bottom
To reach or strike against the bottom of something, so as to impede free action.
Bottom
(transitive) To reach the bottom of something.
Bottom
To fall to the lowest point.
Bottom
To be the submissive partner in a BDSM relationship.
Bottom
The lowest or last place or position.
Those files should go on the bottom shelf.
Bottom
(transgender) Relating to the genitals.
Bottom dysphoria
Bottom surgery
Bottom
The lowest part of anything; the foot; as, the bottom of a tree or well; the bottom of a hill, a lane, or a page.
Or dive into the bottom of the deep.
Bottom
The part of anything which is beneath the contents and supports them, as the part of a chair on which a person sits, the circular base or lower head of a cask or tub, or the plank floor of a ship's hold; the under surface.
Barrels with the bottom knocked out.
No two chairs were alike; such high backs and low backs and leather bottoms and worsted bottoms.
Bottom
That upon which anything rests or is founded, in a literal or a figurative sense; foundation; groundwork.
Bottom
The bed of a body of water, as of a river, lake, sea.
Bottom
The fundament; the buttocks.
Bottom
An abyss.
Bottom
Low land formed by alluvial deposits along a river; low-lying ground; a dale; a valley.
Bottom
The part of a ship which is ordinarily under water; hence, the vessel itself; a ship.
My ventures are not in one bottom trusted.
Not to sell the teas, but to return them to London in thesame bottoms in which they were shipped.
Bottom
Power of endurance; as, a horse of a good bottom.
Bottom
Dregs or grounds; lees; sediment.
He was at the bottom of many excellent counsels.
Bottom
A ball or skein of thread; a cocoon.
Silkworms finish their bottoms in . . . fifteen days.
Bottom
Of or pertaining to the bottom; fundamental; lowest; under; as, bottom rock; the bottom board of a wagon box; bottom prices.
Bottom
To found or build upon; to fix upon as a support; - followed by on or upon.
Action is supposed to be bottomed upon principle.
Those false and deceiving grounds upon which many bottom their eternal state].
Bottom
To furnish with a bottom; as, to bottom a chair.
Bottom
To reach or get to the bottom of.
Bottom
To rest, as upon an ultimate support; to be based or grounded; - usually with on or upon.
Find on what foundation any proposition bottoms.
Bottom
To reach or impinge against the bottom, so as to impede free action, as when the point of a cog strikes the bottom of a space between two other cogs, or a piston the end of a cylinder.
Bottom
To wind round something, as in making a ball of thread.
As you unwind her love from him,Lest it should ravel and be good to none,You must provide to bottom it on me.
Bottom
The lower side of anything
Bottom
The lowest part of anything;
They started at the bottom of the hill
Bottom
The fleshy part of the human body that you sit on;
He deserves a good kick in the butt
Are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?
Bottom
The second half of an inning; while the home team is at bat
Bottom
A depression forming the ground under a body of water;
He searched for treasure on the ocean bed
Bottom
Low-lying alluvial land near a river
Bottom
A cargo ship;
They did much of their overseas trade in foreign bottoms
Bottom
Provide with a bottom or a seat;
Bottom the chairs
Bottom
Strike the ground, as with a ship's bottom
Bottom
Come to understand
Bottom
Situated at the bottom or lowest position;
The bottom drawer
The top shelf
Bottom
At the bottom; lowest or last;
The bottom price
Bottom
The lowest rank;
Bottom member of the class
Bottom
A person who receives physical sensations or actions in a BDSM context.
As a bottom, he enjoyed the physical sensation of being restrained.
Bottom
Focused on the physical aspect of activities.
She identifies as a bottom because she likes receiving specific sensations during play.
Bottom
Role can be independent of psychological submission.
Enjoying being a bottom does not mean one is submissive in their personal or relationship dynamics.
Common Curiosities
What does it mean to be submissive?
Being submissive means consenting to relinquish control to a dominant partner, engaging in a psychological dynamic of power exchange.
How do bottom and submissive roles differ in terms of dynamics?
Bottom roles focus on physical activities, while submissive roles involve a psychological surrender of control within a power dynamic.
What is a bottom in BDSM?
A bottom is someone who receives physical actions in a BDSM context, focusing on the sensations and activities rather than power dynamics.
Can a submissive also be a bottom?
Yes, a submissive can also be a bottom, enjoying both the physical sensations of activities and the psychological aspect of submission.
How do individuals negotiate their roles as bottoms or submissives?
Individuals negotiate their roles through open communication, discussing preferences, limits, safe words, and the extent of the power dynamics they wish to engage in.
Can someone be a bottom without being submissive?
Yes, someone can enjoy being a bottom, focusing on physical sensations without engaging in the psychological aspects of submission.
Are communication and consent important in these roles?
Absolutely, both roles require clear communication, consent, and negotiation of boundaries to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience.
How does a D/s relationship extend beyond physical activities?
D/s relationships can influence daily interactions and decisions, involving control, care, and structured dynamics beyond just physical contexts.
Is trust important in a submissive role?
Trust is fundamental in a submissive role, as it involves the psychological aspect of giving up control to another within agreed boundaries.
What defines a dominant-submissive relationship?
A dominant-submissive relationship is defined by a consensual power exchange, with clear agreements on roles, limits, and dynamics.
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Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
