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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

sizzle.

To make the sound of water boiling on a hot surface.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈsɪzəl/US
  1. To make the sound of water boiling on a hot surface.

    intransitive
    The sausages were sizzling on the barbecue.
  2. To cook (something) in a manner which causes that sound.

    informal · transitive
    I sizzled the bacon for a few minutes in the pan.
  3. To be exciting or dazzling.

    intransitive
    The song sizzled with energy.
Where this word comes from

Probably a derivative of Middle English sissen (“to hiss; buzz; hum”), equivalent to siss + -le (frequentative suffix); Ultimately imitative.

noun/ˈsɪzəl/US
  1. The sound of water boiling on a hot surface.

    countable
    We heard the sizzle of the onions hitting the pan.
  2. The process of being cooked which involves that sound.

    countable · informal
    Give them a sizzle for a few more minutes before serving.
  3. Zing, zip, or pizazz; excitement.

    uncountable
    Her performance had a lot of sizzle.
  4. Ellipsis of sizzle reel.

    abbreviation · alt-of · countable · ellipsis · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Probably a derivative of Middle English sissen (“to hiss; buzz; hum”), equivalent to siss + -le (frequentative suffix); Ultimately imitative.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.