Move over Swifties, Gen Z favourite Rizz is Oxford Word of the Year 2023

According to Oxford University Press (OUP), which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, Rizz is defined as style, charm, attractiveness, and the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner. Many believe the term to be a shortened version of the word “charisma”.

The ‘livers’ — as Orry would say — of the Internet liberally use Rizz to describe those who have “game”, as our millennial readers would call it.

It was not an easy fight, by any means, with Rizz beating out strong contenders like Situationship, Prompt, De-influencing, and Swiftie. (Our condolences to all the Swifties out there.)

Previous words chosen by OUP have included Vax (2021), Climate Emergency (2019), and, by public vote for the first time, Goblin Mode (2022).

Given that last year ‘Goblin Mode’ resonated with so many of us after the pandemic, Casper Grathwohl, President, Oxford Languages, found it interesting to see a contrasting word like Rizz come to the forefront, “perhaps speaking to 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.”

How is the Word of The Year chosen and why did Rizz win it?

Typically, the Word of the Year chosen by Oxford relies on evidence of usage derived from its regularly updated corpus, which comprises over 22 billion words. These words are sourced from news outlets spanning the English-speaking world.

But over the last two years, by issuing a call-out to the public to have a say in the Word of the Year, OUP has sparked debate and discussion around language. After asking the public to refine a shortlist of eight words, all chosen to reflect the mood, ethos, or preoccupations of the year, more than 30,000-word lovers across the world had their say.

Rizz was chosen by the language experts at OUP as an interesting example of how language can be formed, shaped, and shared within communities, before being picked up more widely.

It 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.

Speaking about this year’s Word of the Year campaign and the winning word, Grathwohl added, “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. The spike in usage data for Rizz goes to prove that words and phrases that evolve from internet culture are increasingly becoming part of the day-to-day vernacular and will continue to shape language trends in the future.”