Oxford University Press has named “rizz” the Word of the Year for 2023.
Rizz is widely used on social media to mean style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner.
It is believed to be a shortened form of the word ‘charisma’.
Rizz can also be used as a verb, in phrases such as to rizz up, which means ‘to attract, seduce, or chat up.’
The word emerged from gaming and internet culture.
Its usage peaked in June when Spiderman actor Tom Holland was asked in an interview with Buzzfeed about his own rizz.
READ ALSO: What does rizz mean? Oxford Word of the Year 2023
He answered, ‘I have no rizz whatsoever, I have limited rizz.’
Other words in the 2023 shortlist which was opened up to head-to-head voting by the public across social media and the Oxford Languages website, included:
Swiftie - an enthusiastic fan of the singer Taylor Swift
de-influencing - the practice of discouraging people from buying particular products, or of encouraging people to reduce their consumption of material goods, especially via social media
beige flag - a character trait that indicates that a partner or potential partner is boring or lacks originality; also a trait or habit, especially of a partner or potential partner, viewed as extremely characteristic, but not distinctly good or bad
situationship - a romantic or sexual relationship that is not considered to be formal or established
parasocial - designating a relationship characterised by the one-sided, unreciprocated sense of intimacy felt by a viewer, fan, or follower for a well-known or prominent figure, typically a media celebrity, in which the follower or fan comes to feel falsely that they know the celebrity as a friend
heat dome - a persistent high-pressure weather system over a particular geographic area, which traps a mass of hot air below it
prompt - an instruction given to an artificial intelligence program, algorithm, etc., which determines or influences the content it generates
Last year's Oxford Word of the Year was "goblin mode", another slang term describing "unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy" behaviour.
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