Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Dazzling style; flamboyance; flair.
  • noun Vigorous spirit; energy or excitement.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Flair, zest, or vitality; vigor; energy.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the activeness of an energetic personality

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Unknown

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Examples

  • He marveled at everything about her — the white rickrack she sewed along the hem and neckline of her dress to give it what she called pizzazz, her heart-shaped face, the hollow at the base of her throat, where he hung a heart-shaped locket.

    Butchers Hill Lippman, Laura 1998

  • On the field, he has to develop a quarterback, get more pizzazz from the running game and get tougher and more physical against the run on defense.

    Around the Independents 2010

  • On the field, he has to develop a quarterback, get more pizzazz from the running game and get tougher and more physical against the run on defense.

    Notre Dame - Team Notes 2010

  • This is a solid account of how Britain's national mapping agency came into being, though it lacks a certain pizzazz.

    Map of a Nation: A Biography of the Ordnance Survey by Rachel Hewitt - review Ian Pindar 2010

  • If you think the plural word looks funny, I wonder what you think of the word pizzazz?

    White Pizzas Can't Jump Fer 2007

  • He drives his Landrover (well, not actually his Landrover, but the Landrover of anyone foolhardy enough to lend him one) with what can only be described as pizzazz along Mauritian roads that were built with something less than pizzazz in mind.

    Last Chance to See Adams, Douglas, 1952- 1990

  • "menu-ese," "pizzazz" -- may start off with a scholarly account of a word or term's origin, with more than a casual glance at its Proto-Indo-European root, but before long Blount will soft-shoe his way into an anecdote, some comic verse, a bit of wordplay.

    3quarksdaily 2008

  • "menu-ese," "pizzazz" -- may start off with a scholarly account of a word or term's origin, with more than a casual glance at its Proto-Indo-European root, but before long Blount will soft-shoe his way into an anecdote, some comic verse, a bit of wordplay.

    3quarksdaily 2008

  • Not so much -- they respectfully disagree with Steven Tyler's opinion that she didn't have enough "pizzazz," but work through their problems rationally and send her to Hollywood.

    'American Idol' premieres: New judges, same old show Lisa de Moraes 2011

  • We end this last round-up with two words that represent that pizzazz which is the signature of Indian cuisine: the word zhanzhanit in Marathi, and the word zhaal in Bengali both mean uber-hot or ultra-spicy.

    Archive 2007-08-01 Nupur 2007

Comments

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  • Pizza that induces sleeping funkiness.

    November 5, 2008

  • see farsi-ing, prophetic comments on Pizzazz under turquoise

    July 2, 2011