A sex toy is any artificial device for facilitating human sexual pleasure.

The term can also be taken to include BDSM apparatus. The term usually does not include contraceptives, pornography, or condoms.

In many areas, such as the southern United States, the sale of sex toys is either regulated or prohibited although often these laws are not enforced.

The term marital aid is often used as a euphemism for sex toys, although that term is also sometimes applied to drugs and herbs marketed as supposedly enhancing or prolonging sex.

Sex toys include:

  • Anal beads consist of a device like a string of beads that is inserted in the anus and then slowly pulled out to provide anal stimulation.
  • Butt plugs are devices that are inserted in the anus for pleasure. They have a flared end to prevent the device from being lost inside the body.
  • Cock-rings are used to provide sensation (to one or both partners) by wrapping the base of the penis. They may also be used to delay the onset of male orgasm or to maintain an erection.
  • A dildo is a non-vibrating device which is used for sexual stimulation of the vagina. A godemiche is an old word for a dildo in the shape of a penis and scrotum.
  • A strap-on dildo is a dildo attached to a dildo harness strapped to the groin and hips, generally to allow a woman or impotent man to penetrate other men or women. In particular, it allows a woman to penetrate a man anally.
  • A double-ended dildo is a long, usually flexible, dildo with both ends designed for penetration, thus allowing mutual penetration, for example when used by two women simultaneously.
  • Vibrators are vibrating devices intended to stimulate the nerves of the body. Vibrators intended for sexual use are often dildo-shaped, although they also come in a bewildering range of shapes, allowing internal as well as external use.
  • Sybians are a combination of a saddle shapped mount, with a vibrator mounted on it.
  • Sexual lubricants are lubricants used to facilitate anal or vaginal sex, or as an aid to masturbation.
  • Sex dolls are imitations of the human form intended for simulation of sexual acts: they may consist of a representation of a face, or the buttocks and genital areas, or the entire body. Often inflatable.

See also: teledildonics, Realdoll, Sexual intercourse