Rizz / Unspoken Rizz

About

Rizz or Unspoken Rizz is a slang term about men that means a man can attract women easily and is desirable without trying. It's short for "charisma," isolating the middle syllable of the word. It became notable from Twitch streamers Kai Cenat, Silky and Duke Dennis in mid-2021, but originated in New York City slang earlier. It became prominent in memes when referenced on TikTok and Twitter, among other platforms, in early 2022. Various memes surfaced that were related to the trend in 2022, such as rizz nicknames which made puns out of the term, the phrase Rizz God, the phrase negative rizz and the rizz 'chin up' prank.

Origin

In May 2021, Twitch streamers Kai Cenat and Silky started streaming live e-dates with women, watching each other talk to them and then reacting to their conversations and overall performances. Through the progression of these streams, they started to introduce the idea of "rizz." If the date went well, they'd proclaim the other to have lots of "rizz," associating the slang term with having "game." For instance, on May 25th, 2021, Sliky posted a full-length recording of a Twitch stream to YouTube, wherein, he's live reacting to an e-date Kai is on. Over the course of one year, the video received roughly 70,400 views (shown below).

On June 1st, 2021, the term was first added to Urban Dictionary ^[1] by user Ragingx2. Within the definition, they referenced a moment in a non-reuploaded Twitch stream that occurred around that time where Silky asked Kai if he got a girl's number, to which he responded, "Indeed! You know me I got maad Rizz." The definition received over 400 likes in 11 months (shown below).

On June 11th, 2021, Kai Cenat posted a tweet^[2] that stated, "Imma be on silky’s stream tonight IRL let’s see who really got RIZZ…." being the first time online that the streamer wrote the slang term. Over the course of 11 months, the tweet received roughly 1,800 likes (shown below, left).

Later that day, Kai joined fellow Twitch creator Silky on his stream to have a competition with him based on calling women and seeing who would get the highest rating on a scale of 1 to 10 overall. The next day, on June 12th, 2021, a clip from the stream was uploaded to YouTube by the channel We The Webz, where over the course of 11 months, it received roughly 20,500 views (shown below, right).

Spread

Kai tweeted^[3] the term again on July 9th, 2021, stating, "W RIZZ," earning roughly 8,600 likes in 11 months. This was in reference to a joint stream^[4] with iShowSpeed. Around this time, Kai started referencing the "Rizz Academy," an imagined classroom where he's the teacher helping people with their overall rizz.

On August 9th, 2021, the YouTube channel StageThePlug posted a video titled, "Kai Cenat “Best RIZZ Moments” (Part 1)," which received roughly 53,700 views over the course of eight months (shown below, left). On November 21st, 2021, Kai Cenat uploaded a full-length Twitch stream to YouTube, titling it, "KAI CENAT OPENS RIZZ ACADEMY," earning roughly 343,300 views over the course of six months (shown below, right).

Unspoken Rizz

On September 1st, 2021, Twitch streamer Duke Dennis posted a quote retweet, ^[5] stating, "Unspoken Rizz." Over the course of eight months, it received roughly 1,700 likes (shown below). This is the first instance of one of these streamers mentioning the term, "unspoken rizz."

Rizz TikToks

Going into April 2022, the term started to be used en masse on TikTok. For instance, on April 21st, 2022, TikToker^[6] thekidsmitty posted a video where he's talking to girls on the beach trying to gauge his own level of unspoken rizz. Over the course of four weeks, the video received roughly 1.8 million plays and 231,700 likes (shown below, left).

More TikTokers picked up on the slang going into the coming weeks, continuing into May 2022. For instance, on April 29th, TikToker^[7] nolimittjavi posted a video with lots of text overlay, relating "unspoken rizz" to Hustle Culture signifiers. Over the course of four weeks, the video received roughly 1.6 million plays and 208,600 likes (shown below, right).

Inspired by its usage on TikTok, the term started to be referenced more on Twitter in May 2022. For instance, on May 11th, Twitter^[8] user OvOBrezzzy tweeted, "It’s grown men out here using tik tok slangs now Wtf is Rizz," earning roughly 17,800 likes in six days (shown below).

2023 Word of the Year

On December 4th, 2023, the Oxford English Dictionary named "Rizz" the 2023 Word of the Year as the result of a poll of 32,000 readers and a team of linguistic experts.

Related Memes

Negative Rizz

Negative Rizz is a variant of the term "rizz" and "unspoken rizz" that means when someone has less than Zero Rizz, meaning their flirtatious charisma is so bad that they repel potential mates, indicative of a negative amount of attraction that infers repulsion. The term trended on TikTok in late 2022 used by creators who labeled themselves, their friends or characters as having negative rizz.

Rizz God / Rizz Nicknames

Rizz Nicknames refers to a series of puns involving the word rizz that make nicknames for people with "unspoken rizz." Some prominent examples are "Rizzly Bear," "The Rizzard of Oz" and "The Rizzler," among others. Many of them stem from the practice of calling people Rizz God. Rizz nicknames trended on TikTok in late 2022 as users tried to compile a list of all rizz nicknames called the Rizz Dictionary or Rizztionary. The trend was propelled by the Lightskin Stare trend and many memes used clips of Kratos from God of War.

Rizz 'Chin Up' Prank

The Rizz 'Chin Up' Prank, also known as the Rizz "Hand to Chin" Prank, Rizz Palm Read or Rizz Chin Touch, is a prank on TikTok in which people test their unspoken rizz by approaching someone in school or in public, fake read their palm and then move their hand up to touch the person's chin in a way that is seductive and flirtatious. The maneuver supposedly tests someone's rizz and whether or not they are a Rizz God. Besides the chin touch, the TikTok trend also includes putting one's hand on the wall behind the rizz subject and leaning in for a kiss. It started in late 2022 and used the song "Me U & Hennessy" by DeJ Loaf featuring Lil Wayne as the primary sound, notably generating discourse after someone reportedly cried because of the rizz chin touch in a school gym.

Unspoken Rizz vs. Sexual Harassment

Unspoken Rizz vs. Sexual Harassment is a variant of the Flirting vs. Harassment meme template that substitutes the word "flirting" with "Unspoken Rizz." Two image macros or characters are typically inserted into the template and compared against each other based on their charisma and attractiveness. Another similar template is Hello, Human Resources?! It first surfaced on Twitter in mid-2022, spreading throughout the year.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References