sizzle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
sizzles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sizzled,
past participle, past
-
sizzling
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
sizzles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sizzled,
past participle, past
-
sizzling
present participle
noun
-
sizzles
plural
verb
-
to make the hissing sound characteristic of frying fat
-
informal to be very hot
-
informal to be very angry
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sizzlesimple
-
sizzlessimple
-
have sizzledperfect
-
has sizzledperfect
-
am sizzlingprogressive
-
are sizzlingprogressive
-
is sizzlingprogressive
-
have been sizzlingperfect progressive
-
has been sizzlingperfect progressive
Past
-
sizzledsimple
-
had sizzledperfect
-
was sizzlingprogressive
-
were sizzlingprogressive
-
had been sizzlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sizzle
1595–1605; imitative; see -le
Explanation
When things sizzle, they make a sound like the hissing and popping you hear when you fry food in fat. Drop pieces of bacon in a hot pan and they'll sizzle. A grilled cheese sandwich sizzles in melted butter, and veggie burgers sizzle on a hot grill. You can also use sizzle in a figurative way, when it's so hot that you feel like food in a hot pan: "I'm not going to the pool today, I'll sizzle in the heat." This verb dates from about 1600, and it probably comes from the imitative Middle English sissen.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When pitching “Sterling Point” to Amazon executives, Park said she used a sizzle reel cobbled together from home videos filmed in Muskoka.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
But you can still watch a sizzle reel of Argentina defeating Egypt and follow Switzerland vs.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
Don’t be afraid of any crackling; cumin seeds should sizzle when fried.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
Tuesday’s Google I/O developer conference failed to pack the sizzle that some investors were hoping for.
From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026
My attitude started to sizzle as I reluctantly took the baton again.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
Recorded in just three days, this album of blues covers sizzles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch and written by his frequent collaborator Samson Raphaelson, this Paramount picture, running a pert 82 minutes, positively shimmers with wit and sizzles with innuendo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
The perfectly red fillet cut sizzles in the pan, its juices releasing a meaty aroma.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2025
Chicken drumsticks simmer in a sticky sauce; a whole fish sizzles in a frying pan; an unctuous golden curry bubbles.
From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
The demon howls as its skin sizzles like water thrown on a hot skillet.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Pots clanged and oil sizzled inside the London kitchen of Syrian chef Imad Alarnab, as the former refugee who fled his country's civil war recalled hosting King Charles III.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
Snoop hilariously sizzled when Warriors coach Steve Kerr stormed the court in the fourth quarter of the Clippers’ 103-102 victory.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2026
There’s this swirled labneh with sizzled scallions and chile, Alison Roman’s quiet luxury take on ranch, a sauce with posture and snap.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2025
Steam rises from snack stands selling noodles and sizzled octopus on sticks on the Chinese side.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2024
Instantly, the scorched-air smell sizzled up from the spot like an earthborn bolt of lightning, and at the same second the riverbank exploded.
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
The air smelled perpetually of tortilla chips, and the soundtrack was an agreeable mixture of Matchbox Twenty and sizzling fajita platters.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
For many, the smell of charcoal and sizzling meat is the scent of summer.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
He did it with a sizzling, right-footed goal in the 57th minute of LAFC’s 3-0 victory Friday over the Galaxy in the 27th rendition of El Tráfico and the first this year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Many of Mr. Coppola’s recollections are sensory: roasted peppers, his grandma’s sizzling meatballs, a neighbor’s homemade wine sweetened with peaches—“smells and tastes that intoxicate me to this day.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Every drop of rain that falls on her evaporates instantly, sizzling into steam as soon as it touches her.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
