Rizz means “the gift or ability to charm a potential love interest or sexual partner.”
The term, coined initially by internet personality Kai Cenat, became a famous bit of slang on TikTok, spawning many derivative words and phrases, like rizz you up and unspoken rizz, acting as a sort of viral sensation or meme.
Rizz is believed to be a phonetic shortening of charisma, which means “a special ability to fascinate and capture the attention of others.” Charisma has multiple uses, one of which describes the ability to charm or seduce someone, which is the definition that rizz leans most heavily into.
As a slang term, rizz can be used in various informal ways with different meanings.
- As a verb, rizz means “to charm or intrigue a love interest or sexual partner through words and behavior”
- Rizzing someone often means that you could persuade them to give you a chance romantically or sexually or make them interested in you despite initial hesitation.
- The phrase rizz up is another verb form of the term meaning “to apply charm to someone by talking to them”
Rizz and rizz up are usually used in reference to a heterosexual man flirting with a heterosexual woman. But, both can be used similarly to refer to the charming of a person of any gender or sexuality.