Have you got rizz? We all wish we do. Rizz – which basically means romantic appeal, charm and charisma, which helps attract potential partners – has been a buzzword on social media this past year especially. So much so that the Oxford University Press (OUP) – which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary – has named it their word of the year.
The slang term – which has been used as a hashtag on millions of TikTok posts – beat off competition from seven other words, including Swiftie, situationship and beige flag, chosen because they reflect the mood and preoccupations of the past 12 month. The list was narrowed down by public vote, but Oxford lexicographers – the people who compile the dictionary – had the final say.
Rizz, thought to derive from ‘charisma’ can also be used as a verb – ‘to rizz up’, which means chatting someone up. It is an update on ‘game-, which essentially means the same thing.
YouTuber and Twitch streamer Kai Cenat has been widely credited for popularising the word. He first used it in videos, having used the word among his friends originally. Rizz received a further boost in June, when in a Buzzfeed interview Spider-Man actor Tom Holland was asked about the secret of his rizz – given his girlfriend is Zendaya.
Holland replied that he had “limited rizz” and won over Zendaya by playing the long game.
Rizz follows other word of the years, such as ‘goblin mode’ from 2022, which means ‘self-indulgence, lazy, slovenly or greedy behaviour.
