Etymology 1
Coined by YouTuber and Twitch streamer Kai Cenat (or one of his close friends) around May 2021 and popularized on TikTok in 2022.[1][2][3] Rizz further increased in prominence throughout 2023 and was chosen as the 2023 Word of the Year by Oxford University Press.[4] Contrary to popular belief, Cenat has confirmed that the term is not short for charisma.[1][5]
Noun
rizz (uncountable)
- (slang) A person's ability to seduce a potential (usually female) love interest; charm, game.
- Synonym: charisma
- negative rizz, L rizz ― disastrously poor rizz; the ability to repel others
Wow, that guy has no rizz whatsoever.
You got her number? W rizz!
Bruh, that girl has better rizz than I do.
2023 June 26, Lauren Mechling, “Baby Gronk, internet stardom and the Sports Dad nightmare writ large”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-07-22:Baby Gronk shared that he would be focusing not on grade school or a paper route but ... his love for video games. To be fair, the purported "rizz king" of the pre-pubescent sports world is probably not the one who actually said any of the above.
2023 July 18, Ben Nagle, “Olivia Dunne's online feud with TikTok rival Breckie Hill heats up as she claims fellow social media star 'can't keep my name out of her mouth'”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-07-21:On Monday, Hill posted a TikTok using a filter which rated her 'rizz level', with it giving her 96/100 and 'rizz god' status.
2024 January 8, James Greig, “Can AI finally help me to get some rizz? An investigation”, in Dazed, London: Dazed Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-01-08:By now we all know how stilted and off-kilter ChatGPT sounds: blind confidence and a lack of shame can get you far in life, but could it really have more 'rizz' than even the most stilted and awkward human?
2024 February 22, Kase Wickman, “Let Zendaya Tell You All About Tom Holland’s Rizz”, in Radhika Jones, editor, Vanity Fair, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 4 March 2024:As it turns out, Zendaya's rizz-o-meter needed to scan beyond the bounds of Arrakis to hone in on who had the most rizz of all.
2024 November 18, “Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Perform a Song About Wicked”performed by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo:While Glinda chases boys with rizz.
Verb
rizz (third-person singular simple present rizzes, present participle rizzing, simple past and past participle rizzed)
- (transitive, slang) To seduce a (usually female) love interest; to attract someone using rizz.
- Synonym: rizz up
I'm gonna go rizz one of those girls.
2023 June 8, Kalhan Rosenblatt, “Who is Baby Gronk? Did Livvy 'rizz' him up? What does any of this really mean?”, in NBC News, archived from the original on 2023-06-22:In one of De Tolla's videos, he says that Dunne "rizzed" Madden while convincing him to attend LSU. In another video, he jokes that Madden "rizzed up" Dunne and the 10-year-old stole the gymnastics star from her boyfriend, the "drip king." "Drip" refers to swagger and style.
Usage notes
- The verb is usually paired with up: see rizz up.
Etymology 2
Clipping of Rizla+ rolling paper brand.
Noun
rizz (uncountable)
- (MLE, slang) An amount of rolling paper particularly of the Rizla+ brand.
2024 September 2, “Niz” (0:31 from the start), Liz (lyrics):And I heard that the yutes are lizz
fuck it, I’m tryna put him in the rizz
References
Brad Callas (2023 July 17) “Kai Cenat on How He Populized, Poprulized, AND Popularized the Term 'Rizz'”, in Complex, New York, N.Y.: Complex Networks, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-12-04: “21-year-old Cenat explains that rizz was a product of his group of friends' shared vernacular. […] He adds that "rizz just meant game," before clarifying it's not "short for charisma," contrary to what others have said.”
Yasmine Leung (2022 April 22) “TikTok: Meaning and Origin of Rizz Explained as Slang Takes over Platform”, in HITC, archived from the original on 2023-03-27
Lora Kelley (2023 December 5) “Oxford's 2023 Word of the Year Is ... 'Rizz'”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 6 December 2023
Kelly E[lizabeth] Wright, Benjamin Zimmer (2023 November) “Among the New Words”, in American Speech, volume 98, number 4, Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 459: “While popularly thought to be derived from charisma, Kai Cenat denies it.”