Rizz, the Oxford Word of the Year, explained

The evolution of a viral term, according to the “Livvy rizzed up Baby Gronk” guy. vox.com/culture CULTURE   My family and I do a thing at the end of the year when, instead of resolutions, we each choose a “word of the year” as a little reminder of what tone we’d like to set for the 12 months to come. It’s silly and cute, and it’s the exact opposite of that moment in December when Oxford University Press announces its word of the year and makes us all feel 100 years old. Like its predecessors “selfie” (2013), “toxic” (2018), and “goblin mode” (2022), this year’s word of the year is steeped in the way young people are speaking on the internet. Introducing: rizz, short for “charisma,” a term popularized by streamer Kai Cenat and later by TikToker Henry De Tolla, notorious for releasing one of the most cursed videos of the year, “Livvy rizzed up Baby Gronk.” For anyone who missed that extremely weird few days in June, [Constance Grady not only wrote about]( why “rizz” is 2023’s word of the year, but she got De Tolla himself to explain it. —[Rebecca Jennings](, senior correspondent Editor's note: For ongoing coverage and analysis of the developing conflict between Israel and Hamas, [read our Vox colleagues' work here](. Rizz, the word of the year, explained [illustration of a football jock surrounded by doting girls]( Getty/CSA Images RF We aged, we decrepit, we ancients of the internet, we people over 30, hear my word and shudder, for the hour of our obsolescence is at hand. Oxford University Press has announced its word of the year for 2023. Beware, for the dread word of our doom and destruction is: “rizz.” It’s okay, though. [I got a Gen Z-er to explain it.]( Specifically, I got the Gen Z-er who introduced me to the term. College student and TikToker Henry De Tolla had a TikTok go viral this June for its deadpan use of the phrase “Livvy rizzed up Baby Gronk,” thereby demonstrating to legions of millennials that language has moved so far past us as to become incomprehensible to our failing ears. I called him up and asked him to define “rizz” to me. “Basically,” says De Tolla, “let’s say you think someone’s considered out of your league. If you have rizz, you can use it to get them to date you.” In such circumstances, after you have flirted someone from out of your league right into your bed, the kids would say you have “rizzed your target up.” [So rizz is like game?]( “I would just say the younger kids, I guess, the new generation, a lot of high schoolers and early college students now say rizz,” says De Tolla, with enormous tact. Oxford University Press has chosen to remind us all of our mortality this year as part of its annual Oxford Word of the Year celebration. Each year, OUP’s language experts track the Oxford Monitor Corpus of English to see which words are being used more frequently than before or have newly entered the language. They’re looking for what OUP describes as “a word or expression that reflects the past twelve months in some way, having potential as a term of lasting cultural significance or providing a snapshot of social history.” [Read the full story »](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Renaissance isn’t a deification of Beyoncé. It’s a reminder she’s human. The concert documentary shows some people still try to say no to Beyoncé! Weird! [Read the full story »]( How millennials learned to dread motherhood To our generation, being a mom looks thankless, exhausting, and lonely. Can we change the story? [Read the full story »](   Support our work We aim to explain what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters. Support our mission by making a gift today. [Give](   More good stuff to read today - [Blue Eye Samurai is one of the smartest Netflix shows in years]( - [What Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka has in common with Paddington Bear]( - [It’s okay to suck when you try something new]( - [You can say no to the tipping tablet. That doesn’t mean you should.]( - [The Israel-Hamas war is tearing American cultural institutions apart]( - [Netflix’s Squid Game reality show is kinda great. Oh no.](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe](param=culture). If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 12, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved.