The slang word “rizz” is widely credited to popular Twitch streamer and content creator Kai Cenat, who has repeatedly said in interviews and streams that he and his friends started using it as their own shorthand for “charisma” when talking about who had more game or charm.

What “rizz” Means

  • “Rizz” is generally used to mean someone’s ability to attract or charm others, especially in a flirty or dating context, basically a clipped form of “charisma.”
  • It became mainstream online slang around 2022–2023, spreading especially through TikTok, streaming clips, and meme culture before being picked up in broader media.

How It Started With Kai Cenat

  • In a recorded conversation, Kai Cenat explains that the word came from him and his friends in his room, joking about who had more “rizz,” and then they started using it on stream.
  • A separate explainer on the meme and slang also attributes the creation of “rizz” directly to Kai Cenat as a Twitch streamer coining the term.

From Inside Joke To Word Of The Year

  • Once clips of Kai using “rizz” circulated, the term jumped platforms, especially TikTok, where it became a meme and a general label for flirting skill or charm.
  • By late 2023, “rizz” had become so widespread that Oxford University Press chose it as its 2023 Word of the Year, signaling how far the streamer slang had traveled into mainstream language.

Is The Origin 100% Certain?

  • Linguists often note that slang can have fuzzy, overlapping origins, but in this case, public interviews and popular culture strongly center Kai Cenat as the coiner who popularized “rizz.”
  • At the same time, dictionaries and commentators also frame “rizz” as a straightforward shortening of “charisma,” so both the personal coinage (Kai Cenat) and the structural wordplay (from “charisma”) are part of its story.

Quick TL;DR

  • Who created the word “rizz”?
    Most sources and interviews credit Kai Cenat with coining and popularizing “rizz” on his streams.
  • What does it mean?
    It’s short for “charisma,” especially in the sense of having game or pull in romantic/flirty situations.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.