Word.ws English Dictionary

sizzle

US/ˈsɪzəl/

sizzle verb: to make the sound of water boiling on a hot surface. Also the ellipsis of sizzle reel.

Verb

sizzle (third-person singular simple present sizzles, present participle sizzling, simple past and past participle sizzled)

  1. (intransitive) To make the sound of water boiling on a hot surface.
    • The sausages were sizzling on the barbecue.
  2. (informal, transitive) To cook (something) in a manner which causes that sound.
    • I sizzled the bacon for a few minutes in the pan.
  3. (intransitive) To be exciting or dazzling.
    • The song sizzled with energy.

Noun

sizzle (countable and uncountable, plural sizzles)

  1. (countable) The sound of water boiling on a hot surface.
    • We heard the sizzle of the onions hitting the pan.
  2. (countable, informal) The process of being cooked which involves that sound.
    • Give them a sizzle for a few more minutes before serving.
  3. (uncountable) Zing, zip, or pizazz; excitement.
    • Her performance had a lot of sizzle.

Also used as

sizzle is also the ellipsis of sizzle reel.

sizzle meaning in Vietnamese

sizzle in Vietnamese

to make the sound of water hitting a hot surface
xèo xèo
the sound of water hitting a hot surface
tiếng xèo

Examples of sizzle in a sentence

  • The two teams played a sizzling match.
  • Her latest novel is all sizzle and no steak.
  • We're gonna drag their dog-hearted king out into the sunlight and watch him sizzle!

All 31 example sentences with sizzle

Forms of sizzle

Verb
third-person singular presentsizzles
present participlesizzling
past participlesizzled
pastsizzled
Noun
pluralsizzles

Past tense of sizzle: sizzled

Origin of sizzle

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

Words formed from sizzle

Phrases with sizzle

Words that rhyme with sizzle

Questions about sizzle

What does sizzle mean?
Sizzle means to make the sound of water boiling on a hot surface.
What is sizzle in Vietnamese?
Sizzle in Vietnamese is xèo xèo, tiếng xèo. See Sizzle meaning in Vietnamese.
What part of speech is sizzle?
Sizzle can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce sizzle?
Sizzle is pronounced /ˈsɪzəl/ (US).
What is the past tense of sizzle?
The past tense of sizzle is sizzled.

Words near sizzle in the dictionary

  1. sizz
  2. sizz-erp
  3. sizzed
  4. sizzes
  5. sizzing
  6. sizzle
  7. sizzle cymbal
  8. sizzle cymbals
  9. sizzle platter
  10. sizzle reel
  11. sizzle reels

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sizzle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-sizzle.wav.

Cite this entry: “sizzle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sizzle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.