List of English words without rhymes
Encyclopedia
The following is a list of English words without rhymes, or refractory rhymes, i.e., a list of word
s in the English language
which rhyme
with no other English words in the strict sense that they are pronounced in the same way from the vowel
sound of the main stressed syllable
onwards. They may not be considered rhymes if they are identical in those syllables—for instance, bay and obey often do not count as rhymes. The list was compiled from the point of view of Received Pronunciation
and may differ from lists of words that do not rhyme in other accents or dialects. Multiple-word rhymes, self rhymes (adding a prefix to a word and counting it as a rhyme of itself), and compound words have not been considered.
, a perfect rhyme demands the exact match of all sounds from the last stressed vowel to the end of the word. Therefore, words with the stress far from the end are more likely to have no perfect rhymes. For instance, a perfect rhyme for discomBOBulate would have to rhyme three syllables, -OBulate. There are many words that match most of the sounds from the stressed vowel onwards and so are near rhymes, called slant rhymes. Ovulate, copulate, and populate, for example, vary only slightly in one consonant, and thus provide very usable rhymes for most situations in which a rhyme for discombobulate is desired. However, no other English word has exactly these three final syllables with this stress pattern. And since in most traditions the stressed syllable should not be identical—the consonant before the stressed vowel should be different—adding a prefix to a word, as be-elbow, does not create a perfect rhyme for it.
Because rhymes reflect pronunciation, words that rhyme in some English dialects may not rhyme in others. A commonplace example of this is the word "of", which had no rhymes in British Received Pronunciation
prior to the 19th century, but rhymed with "love" in General American
. In the other direction, iron has no rhyme in General American, but many in RP. Words may also have more than one pronunciation, one with a rhyme, and one without.
s such as oblige, which still has one syllable in its rhyming part.
Nonce word
s ending in -ed ('provided with') may produce other rhymeless words, such as be-fezzed (wearing a fez) and aitched (full of H's). However, these are not always certain (rached, a horse with a white streak down its face?).
Word
In language, a word is the smallest free form that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content . This contrasts with a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own...
s in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
which rhyme
Rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...
with no other English words in the strict sense that they are pronounced in the same way from the vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
sound of the main stressed syllable
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
onwards. They may not be considered rhymes if they are identical in those syllables—for instance, bay and obey often do not count as rhymes. The list was compiled from the point of view of Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's English, Oxford English or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms...
and may differ from lists of words that do not rhyme in other accents or dialects. Multiple-word rhymes, self rhymes (adding a prefix to a word and counting it as a rhyme of itself), and compound words have not been considered.
Definition of perfect rhyme
Following the strict definition of rhymeRhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...
, a perfect rhyme demands the exact match of all sounds from the last stressed vowel to the end of the word. Therefore, words with the stress far from the end are more likely to have no perfect rhymes. For instance, a perfect rhyme for discomBOBulate would have to rhyme three syllables, -OBulate. There are many words that match most of the sounds from the stressed vowel onwards and so are near rhymes, called slant rhymes. Ovulate, copulate, and populate, for example, vary only slightly in one consonant, and thus provide very usable rhymes for most situations in which a rhyme for discombobulate is desired. However, no other English word has exactly these three final syllables with this stress pattern. And since in most traditions the stressed syllable should not be identical—the consonant before the stressed vowel should be different—adding a prefix to a word, as be-elbow, does not create a perfect rhyme for it.
Because rhymes reflect pronunciation, words that rhyme in some English dialects may not rhyme in others. A commonplace example of this is the word "of", which had no rhymes in British Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's English, Oxford English or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms...
prior to the 19th century, but rhymed with "love" in General American
General American
General American , also known as Standard American English , is a major accent of American English. The accent is not restricted to the United States...
. In the other direction, iron has no rhyme in General American, but many in RP. Words may also have more than one pronunciation, one with a rhyme, and one without.
Words with obscure perfect rhymes
- arugula ˈ-uːɡjələ, rhymes with BugulaBugulaSpiral tufted bryozoa or Bugula turrita are a very common colonial marine animal found from Maine to North Carolina.Bugula neritina is of current interest as a source of cytotoxic chemicals, bryostatins, under clinical investigation as anti-cancer agents.Dried Bugula are commonly used as...
, a genus of bryozoan - chaos ˈ-eɪ.ɒs, rhymes with naosCellaA cella or naos , is the inner chamber of a temple in classical architecture, or a shop facing the street in domestic Roman architecture...
, the inner chamber of a temple - circle ˈ-ɜrkəl, rhymes with hurkle, to pull in all one's limbs
- else ˈ-ɛls, rhymes with wels, the fish Silurus glanis
- film, -s ˈ-ɪlm(s) rhymes with pilm, Scottish word for dust. The plural films rhymes with Wilms, a kidney tumor.
- fugue, -s ˈ-juːɡ(z), rhymes with jougs, which is rarely found in the singular.
- kiln ˈ-ɪln, rhymes with the surname MilneMilneMilne may refer to:People with the surname Milne*Milne Places*Milne Bay, large bay in Milne Bay Province*Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea*Milne Inlet, Nunavut, Canada*Milne Land, large island in eastern Greenland...
- midst ˈ-ɪdst, rhymes with didst, archaic for did.
- month ˈ-ʌnθ, rhymes with en-plus-oneth (n + 1)th, a mathematical term; also hundred-and-oneth (= hundred-and-first)
- music ˈ-uːzɨk, rhymes with anchusic, as in anchusic acid, dysgeusic, having a disorder that causes alterations in one's sense of taste and ageusic, lacking a sense of taste
- opus (with a short 0), ˈ-ɒpəs, rhymes with HoppusHoppusThe hoppus cubic foot was the standard volume measurement used for timber in the British Empire and countries in the British sphere of influence before the introduction of metric units...
, a method of measuring timber - orange ˈ-ɒrɨndʒ, rhymes with Blorenge, a hill in Wales
- pint ˈ-aɪnt, rhymes with rynt, a word milkmaids use to get a cow to move
- plankton ˈ-æŋktən, rhymes with Yankton (Sioux)
- plinth ˈ-ɪnθ, rhymes with synth, colloquial for synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
. - purple ˈ-ɜrpəl, rhymes with curple (the hindquarters of a horse or donkey) and hirple (to walk with a limp)
- rhythm ˈ-ɪðəm, rhymes with smithamSmithamSmitham is the small lumps of ore which free miners scavenged because they were exempt from payment of lot and cope duties. This practice was brought to an end in 1760 when the Duke of Devonshire challenged the practice in chancery on the basis that mine owners were breaking larger lumps down to...
, fine malt or ore dust - silver ˈ-ɪlvər, rhymes with chilver, a female lamb
- siren ˈ-aɪərən, rhymes with gyron, a type of triangle in heraldry, and a few technical terms.
- toilet ˈ-ɔɪlɨt, rhymes with oillet, an eyelet
- wasp ˈ-ɒsp, rhymes with knosp, a decorative knob
- width ˈ-ɪdθ, rhymes with obsolete sidth, meaning length
- woman ˈ-ʊmən, rhymes with toman, a Persian coin and military division
- yttrium ˈ-ɪtriəm, rhymes with liberum arbitrium, a legal term
One-syllable rhymes
Refractory one-syllable rhymes are uncommon; there may be fewer than a hundred in English. A great many end in a present or historical suffix -th. This list includes a few polysyllabic masculine rhymeMasculine rhyme
A masculine rhyme is a rhyme that matches only one syllable, usually at the end of respective lines. Often the final syllable is stressed.-English:In English prosody, a masculine rhyme is a rhyme on a single stressed syllable at the end of a line of poetry...
s such as oblige, which still has one syllable in its rhyming part.
- angst, -s ˈ-æŋkst(s)
- breadth, -s ˈ-ɛdθ(s)
- bulb, -s, -ed ˈ-ʌlb(z/d)
- cusp, -s, -ed ˈ-ʌsp(s/t)
- depth, -s ˈ-ɛpθ(s)
- eighth, -s ˈ-eɪtθ(s)
- eth, -s ˈ-ɛð(z)
- fifth, -s, -ed ˈ-ɪfθ(s/t)
- filmed ˈ-ɪlmd
- glimpsed ˈ-ɪmpst
- gulf, -s, -ed ˈ-ʌlf(s/t)
- heighth, -s ˈ-aɪtθ(s)
- karsts ˈ-ɑrsts
- kirsch ˈ-ɪərʃ
- mulcts ˈ-ʌlkts
- ninth, -s ˈ-aɪnθ(s)
- oblige, -ed ˈ-aɪdʒ(d)
- sculpts, ˈ-ʌlpts
- sowthed, southed ˈ-aʊθt ?
- sixth, -s ˈ-ɪksθ(s)
- twelfth, -s ˈ-ɛlfθ(s)
- whilst ˈ-aɪlst
- wolve, -s, -d ˈ-ʊlv(z/d)
Nonce word
Nonce word
A nonce word is a word used only "for the nonce"—to meet a need that is not expected to recur. Quark, for example, was formerly a nonce word in English, appearing only in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. Murray Gell-Mann then adopted it to name a new class of subatomic particle...
s ending in -ed ('provided with') may produce other rhymeless words, such as be-fezzed (wearing a fez) and aitched (full of H's). However, these are not always certain (rached, a horse with a white streak down its face?).
Two-syllable rhymes
Once the stress shifts to the penultimate syllable, rhymeless words are quite common, perhaps even the norm: there may be more rhymeless words than words with rhymes. The following words are representative, but there are thousands of others.- angel
- angry
- anxious
- aspirin (as two or three syllables)
- chimney
- citrus
- comment
- elbow
- empty
- engine
- foible
- hundred(th)
- husband
- liquid
- luggage
- monster
- neutron
- nothing
- olive
- pedant
- penguin
- polka
- problem
- sanction
- sandwich
- secret
- something
- transfer (noun)
- vacuum (as two or three syllables)
- zigzag