sizzle
sizzle Lexical Profile
sizzle Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To make a hissing sound when frying, cooking, or burning.
"The sliced onions and garlic began to sizzle in the hot olive oil."
To be or feel intensely hot.
"The desert pavement seemed to sizzle under the relentless midday sun."
To be filled with intense excitement, passion, anger, or emotional tension.
"The stadium began to sizzle with anticipation as the championship match went into overtime."
• noun
A hissing sound, such as that made by food frying in hot fat or water hitting a very hot surface.
"We heard the loud sizzle of the steaks as the chef placed them on the hot cast-iron grill."
A quality of intense excitement, glamour, passion, or lively appeal.
"The new marketing campaign added plenty of sizzle to an otherwise ordinary product launch."
• Rhymes for sizzle
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in the early 17th century as an imitative frequentative of 'siss' (to hiss), formed with the suffix '-le' to evoke the continuous hissing sound of frying or burning.