Language is always on the move. New words pop up, catch fire, and sometimes even make their way into the dictionary. One of the latest to join the club is 'rizz'.

The word might sound random, but its origin is straightforward. 'Rizz' is simply a shortened form of the word 'charisma'. Think of it as the middle syllable, extracted and turned into its own term.

Like many modern slang terms, 'rizz' found its footing online. It was popularized around 2021 by YouTuber and Twitch streamer Kai Cenat. He and his friends started using the word during their live streams, and from there, it spread rapidly across platforms like TikTok and Twitter. The term resonated with a huge audience, becoming a go-to word for describing someone's charm.

The true sign of a word's impact is when it gets formal recognition. In 2023, 'rizz' achieved just that, being named the Word of the Year by Oxford University Press, the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Within internet culture, 'rizz' has evolved from a simple noun to a more flexible part of speech. As the Oxford experts noted, you can use it as a verb, like 'to rizz someone up'. This flexibility helped it become more than just a passing trend, cementing its place in the online lexicon.

From a streamer's inside joke to the dictionary's front page, 'rizz' shows just how quickly language can change in the digital age.