List of closed pairs of English rhyming words
This page has a list of closed pairs of English rhyming words—in each pair, both words rhyme with each other and only with each other.
Monosyllabic pairs[edit]
- bairn, cairn
- boosts, roosts
- coaxed, hoaxed
- dwarfed, morphed
- how've, Lauv
- lounge, scrounge
- lymph, nymph
- palped, scalped
- salve, valve
- smooth, soothe
Disyllabic pairs[edit]
Trochaic pairs[edit]
In a trochaic pair, each word is a trochee, with the first syllable stressed and the second syllable unstressed.
Trochaic-or-iambic pairs[edit]
In an trochaic-or-iambic pair, each word can be either a trochee (stressed on the first syllable) or an iamb (stressed on the second syllable).
- contract, entr'acte
- discount, miscount
- hereby, nearby
- sunlit, unlit
- thereby, whereby
- therein, wherein
- thereof, whereof
- therewith, wherewith
Iambic pairs[edit]
In an iambic pair, each word is an iamb and has the first syllable unstressed and the second syllable stressed.
- barrage, garage
- chorale, morale
- eclipsed, ellipsed
- gyrate, irate
- henceforth, thenceforth
- Koran, Oran
- purvey, survey
Trisyllabic pairs[edit]
Dactylic pairs[edit]
In a dactylic pair, each word is a dactyl and has the first syllable stressed and the second and third syllables unstressed.
- agitate, sagittate
- analyst, panellist
- article, particle
- bandmaster, grandmaster
- banister, canister
- bingeworthy, cringeworthy
- bonytail, ponytail
- brotherhood, motherhood
- charlatan, tarlatan
- collier, jollier
- copulate, populate
- creepier, sleepier
- cuneiform, uniform
- devious, previous
- Everest, cleverest
- fealty, realty
- fortify, mortify
- gradient, radiant
- javelin, ravelin
- jawbreaker, lawbreaker
- jitterbug, litterbug
- Kodiak, zodiac
- lexicon, Mexican
- loyalty, royalty
- manhandle, panhandle
- medium, tedium
- mellophone, telephone
- minister, sinister
- modulate, nodulate
- mutiny, scrutiny
- president, resident
- serpentine, turpentine (in RP, and some British English dialects)
Amphibrachic pairs[edit]
In an amphibrachic pair, each word is an amphibrach and has the second syllable stressed and the first and third syllables unstressed.
- attainder, remainder
- autumnal, columnal
- concoction, decoction (In GA, these rhyme with auction; there is also the YouTube slang word obnoxion, meaning something that is obnoxious.)
- distinguish, extinguish
- pneumatic, rheumatic
Anapestic pairs[edit]
In an anapestic pair, each word is an anapest and has the first and second syllables unstressed and the third syllable stressed.
At this time, no anapestic pairs have been found. The pair "uneclipsed, unellipsed" is disqualified because uneclipsed also rhymes with ellipsed, and because unellipsed also rhymes with eclipsed.
Tetrasyllabic pairs[edit]
- beautifully, dutifully
- copulated, populated
- culminated, fulminated
- deifying, reifying
- delegated, relegated
- generated, venerated
- lacerated, macerated
- lecherously, treacherously
Pentasyllabic pairs[edit]
Asymmetric pairs[edit]
In an asymmetric pair, the words differ in number of syllables. Each pair is in a subsection according to the respective numbers of syllables in the words when they are in alphabetical order.
Disyllabic-and-monosyllabic pairs[edit]
Disyllabic-and-trisyllabic pairs[edit]
Disyllabic-and-tetrasyllabic pairs[edit]
- thinnest, violinist (although Bentley's Miscellany does contain the line "The Dublin Stout out-Guinnessed Guinness"[2])
Trisyllabic-and-disyllabic pairs[edit]
Trisyllabic-and-tetrasyllabic pairs[edit]
- bestial, celestial
- bigotry, obligatory
- brilliant, resilient
- cordial, primordial
- fricative, indicative
Tetrasyllabic-and-trisyllabic pairs[edit]
- alluvial, pluvial
- behaviour, saviour
- commodity, oddity (In GA, these rhyme with Alaudidae)
- emergency, urgency
- habitual, ritual
- sarrusophone, sousaphone
Pentasyllabic-and-tetrasyllabic pairs[edit]
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
- RhymeZone rhyming dictionary and thesaurus
- Merriam-Webster's Word Central
- RhymeBrain Rhyming Dictionary. Easy to read on your phone.
- Rhymes.net
- Category:English rhymes - Wiktionary
- ^ In many dialects, these also rhyme with oil, soil, boil, spoil, mohel, etc.
- ^ Dickens, Charles; Ainsworth, William Harrison; Smith, Albert (1842). "Bentley's Miscellany".