# friendship with benefits

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/friendship-with-benefits
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A platonic friendship where the partners engage in sexual activities, but do not consider themselves a couple.

## Examples

- They are in a friendship with benefits and keep things casual.
- He worried that starting a friendship with benefits would eventually ruin their long-term platonic connection.
- While they initially agreed to a friendship with benefits, the emotional complexity of their arrangement soon made it impossible to maintain a strictly casual boundary.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.