Other contenders included Swiftie, Beige flag, situationship, prompt, de-influencing.
“Rizz” – Gen Z slang for “style, charm, or attractiveness,” or “the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner” – has been named Oxford’s 2023 Word of the Year. This term was chosen from a shortlist of eight words, each selected to reflect the mood, ethos, or preoccupations of 2023. The final decision was made by Oxford lexicographers after a public vote narrowed down the options, as reported by The New York Times.
Other contenders included Swiftie, Beige flag, situationship, prompt, and de-influencing. The word “Rizz” was first recorded in 2022, according to Oxford. However, it went viral in June after actor Tom Holland, in an interview with Buzzfeed, said, “I have no rizz whatsoever; I have limited rizz.”
Soon after his statement, a barrage of memes surfaced on the internet.
“Rizz is a term that has boomed on social media and speaks to how language that enjoys intense popularity and currency within particular social communities — and even in some cases lose their popularity and become passe — can bleed into the mainstream,” said Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages, OUP.
Casper Grathwohl, the president of Oxford Languages, the dictionary division, said, “This year’s choice reflects the way social media has exponentially accelerated language change.”
“One of the reasons it’s transitioning from being a niche social media phrase into the mainstream is that it’s just fun to say,” he added. “When it rolls off your tongue, there’s a little bit of joy that comes with it.”
The term can also function as a verb, as seen in expressions like “to rizz up,” indicating the act of attracting, seducing, or engaging in conversation with someone.
Essentially, it represents a modernized iteration of “game,” characterized by skill, prowess, and the ability to sexually attract others through charm.
Among the other three finalists for the year, Swiftie is an enthusiastic fan of the singer Taylor Swift; prompt refers to an instruction given to an artificial intelligence program or algorithm determines or influences the content it generates; and situationship refers to a romantic or sexual relationship that is not considered to be formal or established.
Other words on the shortlist that lost out in the public debates include: De-influencing – The practice of discouraging people from buying particular products, or of encouraging people to reduce their consumption of material goods, especially via social media.
Beige flag – A character trait that indicates that a partner or potential partner is boring or lacks originality; (also) a trait or habit, especially of a partner or potential partner, viewed as extremely characteristic, but not distinctly good or bad.
Heat dome – A persistent high-pressure weather system over a particular geographic area, which traps a mass of hot air below it.
Parasocial – Designating a relationship characterised by the one-sided, unreciprocated sense of intimacy felt by a viewer, fan, or follower for a well-known or prominent figure (typically a media celebrity), in which the follower or fan comes to feel (falsely) that they know the celebrity as a friend.
Last year marked the first time in its history that the Oxford Word of the Year was determined entirely by the public, with almost 400,000 people on social media participating in the discussion. Goblin Mode emerged as the winner with an overwhelming 93 percent of the overall vote.
‘Goblin mode,’ ‘vax,’ ‘climate emergency,’ and ‘toxic’ are among the Oxford Words of the Year chosen in the last five years.
In 2020, Oxford, for the first time, chose not to name a Word of the Year, describing 2020 as “a year that cannot be neatly accommodated in one single word.” Instead, from “unmute” to “mail-in,” and from “coronavirus” to “lockdown,” the eminent reference work has announced its “words of an ‘unprecedented’ year.”