Oxford University Press announces word of the year 2023: 'Rizz'

Rizz has been named the word of the year 2023 by Oxford University Press.

According to BBC, a total of eight words competed with each other and all of them fell in the genre of ethos, preoccupations or reflection of mood.

Oxford lexicographers made the final decision upon public vote, where the word Rizz emerged victorious against the seven other words.

About the word Rizz:

Rizz is a viral internet slang used by young people, mainly Gen Z, for romantic charm or appeal and rose to popularity by being massive part of captions and hashtags on TikTok.

According to Oxford University Press (OUP) it is defined as charm, attractiveness style and the ability to attract a potential romantic partner. It is thought to be a shortened form of the word charisma.

Twitch streamer and YouTuber Kai Cenat popularized the term rizz by using it with his friends.

The competing words:

Beige flag: a potential romantic partner that lack originality or is very boring.

Situationship: an unestablished or informal romantic relationship.

Swiftie: a die-hard fan of the American singer, Taylor Swift.

Parasocial: a relationship characterized by one-sided or unreciprocated sense of intimacy felt particularly by fans or followers for a celebrity or well-known figure.

Heat dome: high pressure weather system which traps hot air below it.

Prompt: instructions given to an Artificial Intelligence program which influences the content it generates.

De-influencing: practice of discouraging people from purchasing particular products or to encourage people to reduce consuming of a material good.

The words beige flag, heat dome, swiftie, prompt and de-influencing needed definitions to be crafted by Oxford lexicographers "for the purposes of the Word of the Year campaign" as they were not part of a dictionary.

These words may eventually be added to dictionaries depending on their “longevity, frequency, and breadth of usage".