After over 30,000 language lovers around the world got involved to help refine Oxford's shortlist of eight words, they announced the Oxford Word of the Year 2023 is rizz.
is a colloquial noun, defined as ‘style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic
or sexual partner’.
Etymologically, the term is believed to be a shortened form of the word ‘charisma’, taken from
the middle part of the word, which is an unusual word formation pattern. Other examples of this
word formation pattern include ‘fridge’ (from ‘refrigerator’) and ‘flu’ (from ‘influenza’). ‘rizz’ can
also be used as a verb, in phrases such as ‘to rizz up’, which means ‘to attract, seduce, or chat
up (a person)’. Expansions into other parts of speech like this can indicate that a word is
becoming more prominent in the language.
The word is often associated with younger generations, especially teenagers, and emerged from gaming and internet culture. The American
YouTube and Twitch streamer Kai Cenat is widely credited online with popularizing the word in 2022, offering advice to people on how to have
rizz. The word then rose in popularity on TikTok with the hashtag receiving billions of views and has taken on new interpretations and variations
such as ‘unspoken rizz’.
Our language experts chose rizz as an interesting example of how language can be formed, shaped, and shared within communities, before
being picked up more widely in society. It speaks to how younger generations now have spaces, online or otherwise, to own and define the
language they use. From activism to dating and wider culture, as Gen Z comes to have more impact on society, differences in perspectives and
lifestyle play out in language, too.
is a colloquial noun, defined as ‘style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic
or sexual partner’.
Etymologically, the term is believed to be a shortened form of the word ‘charisma’, taken from
the middle part of the word, which is an unusual word formation pattern. Other examples of this
word formation pattern include ‘fridge’ (from ‘refrigerator’) and ‘flu’ (from ‘influenza’). ‘rizz’ can
also be used as a verb, in phrases such as ‘to rizz up’, which means ‘to attract, seduce, or chat
up (a person)’. Expansions into other parts of speech like this can indicate that a word is
becoming more prominent in the language.
The word is often associated with younger generations, especially teenagers, and emerged from gaming and internet culture. The American
YouTube and Twitch streamer Kai Cenat is widely credited online with popularizing the word in 2022, offering advice to people on how to have
rizz. The word then rose in popularity on TikTok with the hashtag receiving billions of views and has taken on new interpretations and variations
such as ‘unspoken rizz’.
Our language experts chose rizz as an interesting example of how language can be formed, shaped, and shared within communities, before
being picked up more widely in society. It speaks to how younger generations now have spaces, online or otherwise, to own and define the
language they use. From activism to dating and wider culture, as Gen Z comes to have more impact on society, differences in perspectives and
lifestyle play out in language, too.