Opinion Express View on Oxford Word of the Year: Got rizz?
One doesn’t need to be born after 1997 to have it, although that may help in understanding it
To those in the millennial generation or older, “Rizz”, the Oxford Word of the Year for 2023, may sound like the first name of an award-winning actor (Ahmed, best known for The Sound of Metal). 
Actor Tom Holland said he has only a limited amount of it, while Kai Cenat, the social media personality responsible for popularising it, believes he has more than most. You don’t have to be born after 1997 to have it, although, if you understand what it means, you most likely are in the post-90s generation.
To those in the millennial generation or older, “Rizz”, the Oxford Word of the Year for 2023, may sound like the first name of an award-winning actor (Ahmed, best known for The Sound of Metal).
It is really a shortened form of “charisma” — an unusual derivation that draws from the middle section of an existing word, instead of, as is usually the case, the beginning or end.
The idea behind the selection, as Oxford University Press editors explain, is to capture the “prevailing mood” of the year. Does “rizz” meet that requirement? With the pandemic having officially ended in May, for many, 2023 marked the first post-Covid year and a return to their more open and confident selves after two years spent in fear of a virus.
“Rizz”, which means “style, charm or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner” certainly speaks to that sense of optimism. It also reflects how Gen Z is changing the way the world communicates and the role of the internet in speeding up and amplifying this process.
To those who take the English language a tad too seriously, “rizz” may seem like an absurd selection. It should be remembered, however, that previous words have included “refudiate” (2010), the emoji depicting a face with tears of joy (2015) and “goblin mode” (2022). There’s nothing serious about this annual tradition. There is also nothing especially venerable. The first Oxford Word of the Year was chosen only in 2004, making this tradition as much a part of Gen Z as anyone talking about their “rizz”, or lack of it.
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