Makes a hissing, crackling sound like something hot cooking or frying; also means something is exciting or intense.
Onomatopoeia—the word mimics the actual sound it describes. First appeared in English in the 1600s as an imitation of the sound butter or meat makes in a hot pan. The 'z' and 's' sounds create the hissing effect.
Onomatopoeia words like 'sizzle' are universal shortcuts to sound—different languages might spell it differently, but they all chose words that actually sound like the thing they describe! It's linguistic genius that works across language barriers.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.