fizz
Americanverb (used without object)
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fizzes,
present (3rd person singular)
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fizzed,
past participle, past
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fizzing
present participle
noun
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a fizzing sound; effervescence.
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soda water or other effervescent water.
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an iced mixed drink made of liquor, lemon juice, sugar, and soda.
gin fizz.
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British Informal. champagne.
verb
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to make a hissing or bubbling sound
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(of a drink) to produce bubbles of carbon dioxide, either through fermentation or aeration
noun
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a hissing or bubbling sound
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the bubbly quality of a drink; effervescence
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any effervescent drink
Usage
What does fizz mean? Fizz is a bubbliness or bubbly quality, like the kind in a carbonated drink. A much more formal word for this is effervescence. Fizz can also refer to the kind of hissing sound that such bubbliness makes or to the kind of drink that’s known for having fizz, like soda (pop), seltzer, and soda water (which is sometimes called fizzwater). More specifically, the word fizz can refer to an alcoholic mixed drink containing liquor, fruit juice, sugar, and club soda. A classic example is a gin fizz. Fizz is also a British slang term for champagne, which is known for bubbliness (it’s sometimes called bubbly for the same reason). Fizz can also be used as a verb meaning to make a bubbling or hissing noise or to produce bubbles, as in That soda bottle may fizz a bit when you open it. Something that’s bubbly or fizzing can be described with the adjective fizzy. Example: I like how the fizz tickles my nose as I’m drinking.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fizzsimple
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fizzessimple
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have fizzedperfect
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has fizzedperfect
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am fizzingprogressive
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are fizzingprogressive
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is fizzingprogressive
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have been fizzingperfect progressive
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has been fizzingperfect progressive
Past
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fizzedsimple
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had fizzedperfect
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was fizzingprogressive
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were fizzingprogressive
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had been fizzingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fizz
First recorded in 1655–65; back formation from fizzle
Explanation
To fizz is to froth or bubble over. If you shake up a soda, it will fizz out of the bottle when you open it. When something fizzes, you hear a hissing sound as the tiny gas bubbles are released. Any carbonated beverage will fizz when it's opened or poured, the way seltzer fizzes in a glass, or beer fizzes and foams in a mug. The word fizz, which has been in use since the 1600s, is imitative — in other words, it sounds just like what it means.
Vocabulary lists containing fizz
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:
This new sobriety probably takes some of the fizz out of what the sociologist Emile Durkheim called the “collective effervescence” that revelers feel while partying together in large groups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Soda syrup and carbonated water were kept just above freezing to trap more carbon dioxide and increase the fizz.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Sadly, the song has all the fizz of a Capri Sun.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
“As they melt, these Candies gently fizz on your tongue,” per TJ’s.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2025
That straw will puncture the lid on things, make the world drink something with some fizz and fight.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
Yann Martel’s novel contains deep tragedy while its tone fizzes with life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
This does not mean the trapped water glows or fizzes.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2025
More good work by Antoine Semenyo but Dominic Solanke cannot connect as it fizzes across the six yard area.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2024
Not everything purrs or fizzes quite as one would like.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 14, 2023
The drink fizzes, crackles, and pops in the glass.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
The edgy appeal of “Erupcja” is in the way it maps humans as molecules and electrons, fizzed by location, inspired by connection, driven to hover, fuse and release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Garnacho's run and cross teed up Palmer for a low strike that fizzed just wide from 10 yards.
From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025
Moussa Diaby's thunderbolt shot from the edge of the area, after a cross was half-cleared by Tommy Doyle, fizzed through a couple of Wolves defenders and goalkeeper Jose Sa to open the scoring.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2024
Luis Diaz and Andy Robertson came close for Liverpool either side of half-time before Elanga's first-time shot fizzed wide at the end of a flowing Forest move.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2024
They buzzed and zipped and fizzed as they zigzagged everywhere.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
This version is easily the equal of the original: fizzing with humor, and infused with a tenderness and melancholy sympathy for all its characters, mostly members of a family from the so-called 1%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
The minds of these young people are alive and fizzing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
Mead then goes for the half volley, fizzing the ball towards the far post, but it drifts a whisker wide of the target.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2024
Declan Rice had four opportunities, including a first-half shot he sent fizzing just wide and an injury-time effort that forced Sa into a decent save.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2024
The listlessness concealed a mind which was fizzing and flashing thrillingly.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
Definitions 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.
