Have you got rizz … or are you just running up the beige flag?

“RIZZ” has been ruled the Oxford word of the year after the slang term for charisma became hugely popular online.

It was chosen by a team of experts and tens of thousands of members of the public who voted for it as the word which most sums up 2023.

The word came into more common use this year when Spider-Man actor Tom Holland was asked about his “rizz” in an interview prompting the 27-yearold to say: “I have no rizz whatsoever”.

According to the Oxford University Press, “rizz” is defined as style, charm, or attractiveness or the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner.

The shortened version of charisma is unusual in taking the middle part of the longer word and joins other examples in everyday use including fridge from refrigerator and flu from influenza. It beat seven other contenders, including “Swiftie’” which used for fans of Taylor Swift and “beige flag” which is used to describe a partner or potential partner’s boring habits.

Last year’s Oxford word of the year was “goblin mode”, another slang term describing “unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy” behaviour.

Casper Grathwohl, president at Oxford Languages, told the BBC: “It’s interesting to see a contrasting word like rizz come to the forefront.”

He said the word possibly spoke to “a prevailing mood of 2023, where more of us are opening ourselves up after a challenging few years and finding confidence in who we are”.

He added that it proved that words and phrases that derive from internet culture “are increasingly becoming part of day-to-day vernacular”.