'Rizz' gets selected as the Word of the Year 2023 by Oxford University Press; here is what it means

Oxford University Press has named 'Rizz' as the word of the year 2023! Last year the word of the year was 'Goblin Mode', and this year it is rizz. The term is commonly used by Generation Z (Gen-Z) and means 'style, charm and charisma'. Let us delve deeper into it.

Word of the year: Rizz

Rizz is believed to come from the word charisma and can also be used as a verb like 'rizz up'. “Rizz is a term that has boomed on social media and speaks to how language that enjoys intense popularity and currency within particular social communities—and even in some cases lose their popularity and become passé—can bleed into the mainstream,” Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages said in a statement. 

The origin of rizz

The origin of the word can be traced back to Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, who is credited with popularising it on the interactive live-streaming platform. He claimed that he and his friends coined the term that later got popular. He however claims that rizz means 'game' not 'charisma'

Other words that competed were Swiftie, de-influencing, beige flag, rizz, heat dome, prompt, parasocial, and situationship.

After a four-day voting period, the public chose their four favourite words of the year: rizz, Swiftie, prompt, and situationship. These words were then evaluated by Oxford’s language experts to choose the definitive word of the year for 2023, and they chose rizz!

Also watch: 'AI' has been named word of the year by Collins Dictionary