Got rizz? Tom Holland memes propel popularity of 2023 word of the year

Gen Z slang for charm or attractiveness sees off ‘Swiftie’, ‘situationship’ and ‘prompt’ in judges’ decision

Do women twirl their hair when they’re around you? Do men laugh loudly at your jokes? Have you noticed you’re particularly good at chatting people up? Then you’ve got rizz.

If you’re unfamiliar with the word then get to know it, because “rizz” has been named as the word of the year by Oxford University Press (OUP), the world’s second oldest academic press and the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary.

The gen Z slang for “style, charm or attractiveness” or “the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner” beat out other contenders such as “Swiftie” (an enthusiastic fan of Taylor Swift), “situationship” (an informal romantic or sexual relationship) and “prompt” (an instruction given to an artificial intelligence program).

Rizz is believed to come from the word “charisma”, and can be used as a verb, as in to “rizz up”, which means to attract, seduce, or chat someone up, OUP said.

The word was first recorded in 2022 and went viral in June this year after the Spider-Man actor Tom Holland declared in an interview: “I have no rizz whatsoever. I have limited rizz.” He later explained he won over his girlfriend, the actor Zendaya, by playing the “long game”.

As Holland’s comments spawned endless memes, overall usage of the word surged by a factor of about 15, according the publisher. Today, the word is used massively online, with billions of views of the hashtag “rizz” on TikTok.

OUP said the word had “boomed on social media”, showing how the internet can propel initially fringe language into the mainstream. “This is a story as old as language itself, but stories of linguistic evolution and expansion that used to take years can now take weeks or months,” it said.

It said the growth of rizz “speaks to how younger generations create spaces – online or in person – where they own and define the language they use. From activism to dating and wider culture, as gen Z comes to have more impact on society, differences in perspectives and lifestyle play out in language, too.”

This year’s shortlist of eight words was selected by language experts at OUP. That list was then put to a public vote in late November, reducing the field to four finalists, before Oxford lexicographers made the final decision.

More than 30,000 word lovers helped to decide head-to-head competitions between pairs of words or phrases. They selected “rizz” over “beige flag” (a character trait indicating that a partner or potential partner is boring).

The other words that didn’t make the final cut were “parasocial” (a relationship characterised by the one-sided, unreciprocated intimacy felt by a fan or follower for a well-known figure), “heat dome” (a persistent high-pressure weather system over a particular geographical area), and “de-influencing” (the practice of discouraging people from buying particular products or reducing their consumption more generally).

Last year the public was given the opportunity to choose the overall winner, and an overwhelming 93% voted for “goblin mode” – a slang term describing “unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy” behaviour.

Casper Grathwohl, the president of Oxford Languages, said witnessing thousands of people debate and discuss language “really highlights the power it has in helping us to understand who we are, and process what’s happening in the world around us”.

Given that “goblin mode” resonated with so many after the pandemic, Grathwohl added, “it’s interesting to see a contrasting word like ‘rizz’ come to the forefront, perhaps speaking to the prevailing mood of 2023, where more of us are opening ourselves up after a challenging few years and finding confidence in who we are.”

Previous words of the year – chosen by Oxford lexicographers – include “vax” (2021), “climate emergency” (2019) and “selfie” (2013).

Do you know these gen Z slang terms?

POV Short for “point of view”, referring to one’s point of view of a certain situation, including a physical standpoint, an opinion or attitude.

Lore Referring to background information about a person, typically secret or random pieces of information.

Tea Meaning gossip or inside information, used in phrases like “spill the tea”, ie share the juicy information you have.

Hits different When something feels special, or appeals to you in a unique way, it “hits different”.

Sneaky link A secret meeting between two people romantically interested in each other, commonly used to refer to a hookup but also to describe a friends-with-benefits relationship.

Heather Refers to a very desirable person who everyone likes, derived from the Conan Gray song Heather, about being in love with someone who is in love with a girl called Heather.

Pick Me Girl A woman who claims or acts as if she is unlike most other women to gain attention from men.

Slept on To be ignored, overlooked or not appropriately respected.

Girl dinner A low-maintenance way to eat, by picking (usually insubstantial) items from the fridge and arranging them in an aesthetically pleasing way on a plate.

Canon event A trend that started after the release of Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, referring to a pivotal moment that changes the course of one’s life and therefore cannot be interrupted.

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