Plain definitions, no euphemism and no sales pitch. If you heard a word and did not want to ask, it is here. The second half is something you will not find in a dictionary: what this is called in twenty-four countries, and which of those words bring people who want a video rather than a room.
The umbrella terms
ENM (ethical non-monogamy) — the umbrella for every relationship style where more than one partner is open and agreed to by everyone involved. "Ethical" means informed, not secret.
Polyamory — multiple ongoing romantic relationships. The emphasis is on relationships, not encounters.
Swinging — established couples exchanging partners with other couples. This is not what ZAVOS is. Our members are independent individuals, not couples trading.
Open relationship — one primary relationship plus agreed outside sex. Rules vary enormously between couples; nothing is standard.
Solo poly — non-monogamous by default, without building toward a primary partnership.
The event terms
Group sex — three or more people, no further implication about who or how.
Threesome — three people. The most common entry point into everything on this page.
Gangbang — one person at the centre with several others, on terms that person sets in advance. In organized communities the centre decides who, how many, and what is off the table; everyone else agrees beforehand.
Orgy — a larger gathering where multiple people mix, with no single centre.
Play party — a hosted gathering where sex is permitted but not expected. Most people at one spend most of the night talking.
On premise / off premise — whether sex is allowed on the venue's own floor, or whether the venue is only where people meet.
What this is called around the world
We measured this ourselves in September 2026, comparing search volumes inside each country rather than worldwide, and then checking what else people type alongside each word. Both steps matter, and skipping either one produces a wrong answer.
| Country | The word people actually type |
|---|---|
| United States, United Kingdom | sex club, lifestyle club |
| Germany | Swingerclub |
| France | club libertin, partouze |
| Spain, Mexico | club swinger |
| Brazil | casa de swing, suruba |
| Italy | club privé |
| Netherlands | parenclub |
| Japan | ハプニングバー (happening bar), 乱交 |
| Taiwan, Chinese-speaking | 多人運動 |
| Korea | 갱뱅 |
Two findings that cost us a month
Adding a word kills a word. In English, swingers is measured at 91 against a baseline of 100, while swingers club is 8 — the same idea, a tenth of the searches. orgy is 100 and orgies is 7. People type short.
Raw volume lies. swingers looked like the strongest English term at 91 until we read what people type alongside it: swingers golf, swingers mini golf, swingers crazy golf. It is the name of a British crazy-golf chain. Most of that 91 is golf.
The words that bring the wrong crowd
In every language we checked, the largest word for the act itself is a word people type when they want to watch something, not attend something. We verified this by reading the related searches for each one:
- English
orgy→ orgy porn, xxx orgy - English
gangbang→ gangbang porn - Spanish and Italian
orgia→ orgia xxx, porno orgia - Taiwanese
群交→ 群交 av, 群交 無碼 - Korean
갱뱅→ 갱뱅 야동
The words that bring people who are actually looking for a room are the ones that name a place, not an act: sex club, lifestyle club, Swingerclub, club libertin, casa de swing, ハプニングバー. People searching those also search "near me" and "what is a…". They are trying to find somewhere real.
The clearest case is lifestyle club. Everything typed alongside it is what is a lifestyle club, lifestyle club near me, lifestyle clubs. Not one search for video.
Where the scene is
ZAVOS runs city communities in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chicago, Dubai, Frankfurt, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, New York, Osaka, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo. The words above change at every border, and so does how a gathering is organised.
A few things we have reported on, each sourced in the magazine:
- Germany counted roughly 30,000 events and two million guest visits in a single year. One in three guests was attending for the first time.
- Sydney clubs run the scene through doors: an open door means join, a roped door means watch only, a closed door means stay out. Nobody has to ask, and nobody has to hear a rejection.
- São Paulo raised couple entry from 215 to 285 reais in two years, and people went back to hosting at home.
- Valencia assigns every first-time guest a guide for the night.
- The United Kingdom's largest festival sells no ticket without an existing member vouching for you.
What ZAVOS is, in one line
Not a party list. A place that teaches the rules first, verifies who is in the room, and keeps everyone anonymous — city by city, in twenty-four languages.