'Rizz' Is the Word of the Year

The Oxford word of the year has been revealed, and it captures the “prevailing mood” of 2023.

Out of a public-voted shortlist containing “Swiftie”, “parasocial” and “situationship”, Oxford lexicographers have landed on the defining word of 2023. And it’s “rizz”.

The academics at Oxford University Press define “rizz” as “style, charm, or attractiveness, and the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner”.

Its addition into the hallowed pages of the OG dictionary has likely been helped along by celebrities, who launched the term into the public consciousness. Spider-Man actor Tom Holland, for instance, told BuzzFeed in an interview: "I have no rizz whatsoever”.

We also like to think that the infamous “Livvy rizzed up Baby Gronk” meme, which both confused and delighted the internet in equal measure, had something to do with it. (For the last time and on the record, Baby Gronk is a elementary-school wunderkind football player who was charmed – or “rizzed up” – by top gymnast and social media personality Livvy Dunne into playing for her college, Louisiana State University. Baby Gronk’s real name, FYI, is Madden San Miguel.)

President of Oxford Languages Casper Grathwohl speculated that the popularity of the word encapsulates “a prevailing mood of 2023, where more of us are opening ourselves up after a challenging few years and finding confidence in who we are".