sizzle

[siz-uhl]

verb (used without object), siz·zled, siz·zling.

to make a hissing sound, as in frying or burning.

Informal. to be very hot: It's sizzling out.

Informal. to be very angry; harbor deep resentment: I'm still sizzling over that insult.

verb (used with object), siz·zled, siz·zling.

to fry or burn with or as if with a hissing sound: to sizzle steaks on the grill; The sun sizzles the pavement.

noun

a sizzling sound.

Nearby words

Origin of sizzle

1595–1605; imitative; see -le

SYNONYMS FOR sizzle

1. sputter, spatter, crackle, hiss.

Related formssiz·zler, nounsiz·zling·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sizzler

The interview was so toothless, it felt more like eavesdropping on two patrons having lunch at the Sizzler.
Rosie O’Donnell’s Disastrous Oprah Winfrey Network Experience|Ramin Setoodeh|March 18, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He is the kind of fire-cracker that you call a “sizzler”—all sputter and no explosion.
The Fall of the Year|Dallas Lore Sharp
He lined out the hottest kind of a sizzler over Chub's head and was ready to go to second when Post fielded it.
The Crimson Sweater|Ralph Henry Barbour

British Dictionary definitions for sizzler

sizzler

noun

something that sizzles

informal a very hot day

sizzle

verb (intr)

to make the hissing sound characteristic of frying fat

informal to be very hot

informal to be very angry

noun

a hissing sound

Word Origin for sizzle

C17: of imitative origin. Compare siss (now dialect) to hiss, West Frisian size, siizje. See also fizz and fizzle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sizzler

sizzle

c.1600, "to burn with a hissing sound," perhaps a frequentative form of Middle English sissen "hiss, buzz" (c.1300), of imitative origin. The figurative sense is attested from 1859. Related: Sizzled; sizzling. The noun is first recorded 1823.