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On Monday, Oxford sent the world a message: It knows what “rizz” is.
The viral term was crowned 2023’s “word of the year” by the Oxford University Press, which it lists as a “colloquial noun, defined as ‘style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner.’” It is believed to stem from the word “charisma.”
OUP’s decision comes after a year of rizz-related memes helped make it one of the most buzzy slang terms, particularly among Gen Zers. Last week, Merriam-Webster announced “rizz” as one of its 2023 words of the year after adding it to the dictionary in September.
“Our language experts chose rizz as an interesting example of how language can be formed, shaped, and shared within communities, before being picked up more widely in society,” the OUP said in a post about the word. “It speaks to how younger generations now have spaces, online or otherwise, to own and define the language they use.”
The word gained notoriety in June after a TikTok creator made a video with commentary about youth football player Baby Gronk, whose real name is Madden San Miguel, meeting with Louisiana State University gymnast Livvy Dunne.
“Livvy just convinced Baby Gronk to commit to LSU,” Henry De Tolla says in the video. “Livvy rizzed him up.”