What does the word of the year, 'rizz,' actually mean?

Oxford University Press has announced its word of the year for 2023, and it is all about having romantic appeal.

That's right, "rizz" is the word that tens of thousands of the public voted for along with a team of experts who decided that it best encapsulates the mood of the past year.

It is, essentially, an abbreviation of the word “charisma”, and is popular among Gen Z.

Oxford University Press defines "rizz" as denoting someone who has "style, charm, or attractiveness" and "the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner."

Twitch and YouTube streamer Kai Cenat brought the word to the forefront of internet culture.

In an interview with Complex on 360 with Speedy Morman, Cenat shared how he and his friends used the word.

"Okay so look, rizz came from me and my group of friends," Cenat said. "Me and my friends used to always say it, and stuff like that. And I definitely [popularised] it on my stream."

Since then the word has blown up on the likes of TikTok, with the hashtag "rizz" receiving 35.7 billion views as people have been sharing their interpretations of the words as well as good and bad examples of someone having rizz.

Actor Tom Holland also helped boost the popularity of the word this year, after he was asked whether or not he had rizz in an interview back in June.

"I have no rizz whatsoever, I have limited rizz,” Holland told BuzzFeed.

Other words that were in contention for 2023 word of the year include Swiftie (fans of Taylor Swift), situationship (an undefined noncommittal romantic relationship), de-influencing (where influencers tell their followers why they should not buy a product), and prompt (the instruction given to an AI program that influences its content output).

With "rizz" as the word of the year, this will only continue to find its way into everyone's vocabulary.

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