This week’s theme
Is it a noun or a verb? Both!

This week’s words
windbag
rizz

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(riz)

MEANING:

noun: The ability to charm or seduce.
verb intr.: To charm or seduce.

ETYMOLOGY:

Probably short for charisma, from Greek charisma (favor, gift), from charizesthai (to favor), charis (favor, grace). Earliest documented use: 2021.

NOTES:

The term was popularized by Twitch streamer Kai Cenat. It’s most likely a middle clipping of charisma. Some other words formed by clipping the middle are fridge (refrigerator), flu (influenza), and tec (detective).

USAGE:

“For an allegedly drab bird, this small passerine [a perching bird] has lots of rizz.”
Ed Douglas; Country Diary; The Guardian (London, UK); May 10, 2025.

“By the time we got to the gym, [Jason] Nguyen was already there, performing for the camera by flirting with a woman on a weight bench. ‘Is Jason rizzing right now?’ Piker asked.”
Andrew Marantz; You Mad, Bro?; The New Yorker; Mar 24, 2025.

See more usage examples of rizz in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: