Are you super stylish and impossibly charming? Do you have a magnetic personality? Can you pull easily, or ask someone out with confidence instead of with crippling nerves?
Chances are that sometime this year, you’ve been commended for your ‘rizz’. The colloquial term, a shortened word for ‘charisma’ which was coined by Gen Z, was voted Oxford University Press’ ‘word of the year’ for 2023.
It’s defined by the publishers as ‘style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner,’ but it’s not just something you can have. You can also ‘rizz up’ which means chat up, or there’s unspoken rizz, when you simply exude it.
30,000 people voted on the shortlist of eight words, which were all chosen by lexicographers to reflect the vibe of the year. The other three finalists included ‘Swiftie’, ‘prompt’ and ‘situationship’, but ‘de-influencing’, ‘beige flag’, ‘parasocial’ and ‘heat dome’ were also included in the vote. The final decision was left to the experts.
Rizz actually first cropped up in 2022, but its usage peaked in June this year, largely thanks to a BuzzFeed interview with Tom Holland where he described himself as having ‘limited rizz.’
After the crowning of ‘goblin mode’ as 2022’s word of the year indicated the extent of the post-pandemic attitude of not giving a fuck, could the surge of ‘rizz’ mark the return of our social lives and our confidence?
But Oxford University Press isn’t the only publisher to pick a word of the year. Last month, dictionary-maker Collins chose ‘AI’ as its word that defined 2023. You can read all about that on Time Out here.
Did you see that Coca-Cola’s iconic Christmas truck tour is returning to the UK for Christmas 2023?
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