What Is 'Rizz'?

Here we go — a new word all over TikTok seems to be taking over society. At this point, it seems like everyone with a phone or a social life has heard the word "rizz". Maybe you're scrolling through TikTok and can't stop encountering detailed videos about someone who has rizz. Or, maybe you're on a dating app, and someone references their "rizz" in their profile or, even worse, sends writes, "Hey (with rizz)," as a first message. Perhaps you're just walking down the street and hear someone talking to a friend about how they wish they had Pete Davidson's rizz.

By now, it seems like the rizz obsession is getting a little out of hand, but this isn't the first time that TikTok made an unexpected phrase or trend become a widely-used word that people have adopted for everyday life. For instance, thanks to TikTok, a "Heather" is now a perfect, beautiful person who ordinary people get jealous of (via TikTok). Rizz is arguably a little more complicated, but we figured out what it means for you.

When you stumble upon video after video about the rizz concept, you might get confused about what the "word" even means. 

The person who first came up with the term, Kai Cenat, broke it down in an interview on "No Jumper Clips" (via YouTube). Cenat explained that he feels like his word was ruined on TikTok, but he initially used the word with his friends and then started using it on Twitch. "You're talking to a girl, and at first, s*** is not going your way ... until you spit game to her ... you're rizzing ... s*** is starting to go your way ... that's rizz," Cenat said. So, rizz originally meant being smooth enough to seduce a girl, even if she wasn't so attracted to you at first.

One TikTok user with the username @ysorealjay shared a video with over a million likes that showed an example of rizz. In the video, a guy approached a girl at a dining venue and asked to chat with her. He was smooth and friendly as he asked her what she ordered, and they had a brief conversation. The guy then told the girl that he was attracted to her and asked for her number, and she gave it to him!

As mentioned earlier, traditional rizz doesn't necessarily involve looks — it's all about being able to impress someone with your words and attitude. However, language evolves, and these trendy slang terms do, too. Now we also have the term "unspoken rizz," which means being able to seduce someone without having to talk, and while Kai Cenat maintains that's not what real rizz means, this more looks-centered spinoff of rizz is getting more and more attention.

To truly get an understanding of these concepts, it might help to associate various forms of rizz with famous fictional characters who portray them. One iconic character with unspoken rizz, for example, is Damon Salvatore from "The Vampire Diaries." As illustrated in this TikTok clip, the famously attractive character captivates another character's attention just by smiling at her in a public place.

On the other hand, a character with regular rizz is the loveable Andy from "Modern Family." While he's depicted as a dorky character, he does (spoiler alert) date Haley, a popular, beautiful girl. Andy explains how he tends to have memorable effects on women thanks to his charming personality. In modern terms, he has rizz.