Rizz, Explained

What does rizz mean? Here's what you need to know about rizz, the word that took over Twitch, TikTok, YouTube, and the rest of the internet.

What does Rizz mean? Explained
Image via YouTube/Kai Cenat
What does Rizz mean? Explained

Do you have rizz? Do you even know what it means?

The word is all over the internet right now. Popularized by Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, it first popped up on Twitch and YouTube over a year ago, before taking over TikTok (and every other social media app) in recent months. Now, it’s going mainstream. Just this week, NBA reporter Shams Charania was called a “Rizz God” on live TV.

Before it blows up even more and Merriam-Webster decides to name it the “word of the year” or some wild shit, we’re here to fill you in on everything you need to know about rizz, what it means, and where it came from.

What does rizz mean?

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Your “rizz” is your ability to spit game. In other words, if you’re smooth when you’re flirting with someone, you have rizz. If you get nervous and fuck things up whenever you’re making a move on someone, I hate to break it to you, but you have no rizz. Over time, variations of the word have emerged, too. “Rizzing someone up,” for example, is the act of spitting game itself. 

Twitch streamer and YouTube personality Kai Cenat, who popularized the term, broke it all down on a recent episode of No Jumper. “Rizz is when you’re talking to a girl, and at first, shit is not going your way. It’s looking bad for you, until you spit game and you’re rizzing them up to where shit starts to go your way,” he explained. “You’re so slick with your words and what you’re saying, to where the girl is like, ‘OK, yeah, who is this?!’ After shit goes your way, you’re like, ‘Yeah, I rizzed her up. I’ve got mad rizz.’”

Where did it come from?

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Kai Cenat says rizz is a word he used to say with his friends before joining Twitch, but once he started using it on streams, it blew up. In 2021, he had competitions with his friends about who had the most rizz and even held a Rizz Academy on Twitch, where he shared tips for people who have no rizz. 


Now, Kai has a complicated relationship with the word. He started the trend, but he stopped saying it when it blew up on TikTok and took on new meanings. During his No Jumper interview, he explained, “TikTok butchered that word. They killed it.” As an example, he referred to “unspoken rizz,” a variation of the term used for someone who is so attractive that they don’t even have to speak in order to pull a romantic interest. “That’s not really rizz,” Kai said, pointing out that rizz is all about how you speak to someone.

How are people saying it?

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Now that the term is going mainstream, it’s showing up everyhwere. People on TikTok are practicing their rizz at Walmart, it’s being used to describe athletes at the World Cup, and it’s even being said on TV. During a recent episode of Up & Adams, host Kay Adams was trolled by fans about her chemistry with NBA reporter Shams Charania, which led to a whole segment about how Shams is a “Rizz God.” 

At this point, it’s only a matter of time until rizz ends up in a Drake lyric.

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