Rizz

Not to be confused with Rizla.

This article is about the Internet slang term. For other uses, see Rizz (disambiguation).

Rizz (/ˈrɪz/ ^ⓘ) is an internet slang word defined as style, charm, or attractiveness. It is likely short for charisma, and is often associated with brain rot.

Background

The phrase was popularized by American YouTuber and Twitch streamer Kai Cenat in mid-2021, with it being used among his friend group long before.^[1] It subsequently garnered virality on the social media application TikTok.^[2] Oxford University Press named rizz its word of the year for 2023.^[3]

Kai Cenat, who greatly popularized the word rizz

The popularity of the word in mid-2021 is attributed to Kai Cenat. Streaming on Twitch, Cenat would share to people how to have "rizz" and developed other phrases, such as "W rizz" and "L rizz". It describes a person's "level of rizz"; to have "W rizz" is to have excellent charisma, whereas to have "L rizz" means the opposite, possessing bad charisma.^[4]

Rizz is a colloquial noun, used when describing possession of charisma. As a verb, rizz can be used to describe using charisma to attract someone, as to "rizz up" a person.^[5][3] It is believed that the middle syllable of the word charisma was shortened to create the word rizz, though this belief is not universal.^[6] Oxford University Press described this formation pattern for a word as "unusual". However, this formation pattern can be seen in the shortening of words such as refrigerator (fridge), and influenza (flu).^[5]

Popularity

The word is mainly used by Generation Z,^[7] though it has attracted significant use from Generation Alpha as well.^[8] Further development of the word "rizz" includes "Rizzler" or "Rizz God",^[9] meaning highly charismatic, and "Unspoken Rizz", meaning a person's ability to attract a person without speaking.^[10]

Cenat stated in an interview on the No Jumper podcast that after the word went viral on TikTok he stopped using it himself, stating that the viral use on TikTok "butchered" the word.^[4] The term went further viral in June 2023, after actor Tom Holland explained in an interview with BuzzFeed that he possessed "limited rizz" and it was by playing the "long game" that helped to win over his girlfriend, actress Zendaya. From this, a number of memes were created.^[11] Rizz was named the Oxford English Dictionary Word of the Year for 2023.^[12][13]

See also

• Glossary of Generation Z slang
• Gyatt – another slang term popularized by Cenat
• The Rizzler – a social media personality known for his "rizz face"
• Skibidi Toilet
• Big dick energy