List of English words without rhymes
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The following is a list of English words without rhymes, i.e. a list of words in the English language which rhyme with no other English words in the sense that they are pronounced in the same way from the vowel sound of the main stressed syllable onwards.
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[edit] Definition of Rhyme in English
Following the strict definition of rhyme, a perfect rhyme demands the exact match of all sounds from the vowel of the last stressed syllable onwards. Therefore, long words with the stress further from the end become more likely to have no perfect rhymes. For instance, a perfect rhyme for discombobulate would have to rhyme three syllables, or obulate. There are many words that match most of the sounds from the stressed vowel onwards and so are "near rhymes". Ovulate, copulate and populate, vary only slightly in one sound, and thus provide very usable rhymes for most situations in which a rhyme for discombobulate is desired.
Because the definition of rhyme relies on pronunciation, words that rhyme in some accents may not rhyme in others. An interesting example of this is the word "of," which has no rhymes in British Received Pronunciation, but rhymes with "love" in General American.
[edit] Orange, Purple, and Silver
It is a common misconception that the words orange, purple, and silver are the only English words which rhyme with no other words. This is misleading for two main reasons.
- First, there are many English words with no rhymes, as demonstrated by the list on this page.
- Second, rhymes do exist for all three:
- For orange: door hinge (even though it consists of two words) and sporange[1]. Numerous slant rhymes exist: lozenge, storage, porridge, cringe.
- For purple, curple[2], and hurple[3] are perfect rhymes.
- For silver: chilver[4] is a perfect rhyme.
[edit] Non-rhyming English words
- almond
- angry
- angst
- anxious
- aspirin
- bachelor
- breadth -
- bulb[5]
- bulbous
- calumny
- cannibis
- caveat
- chaos
- chimney
- chocolate
- circus
- citrus
- citizen
- condom
- crayon
- denizen
- depth
- diamond
- different
- eighth
- elbow
- else
- empty
- engine
- fifth
- film
- foible
- fugue
- galaxy
- gulf
- golf
- hostage
- husband
- integer
- justice
- laundry
- luggage
- monster
- month
- mulcts
- ninth
- neutron
- obvious
- of [6]
- office
- olive
- orange
- pint
- pedant
- penguin
- pizza
- plankton
- plinth
- promise
- reptile
- rosebud
- sanction
- sandwich
- shadow
- tragedy
- transfer
- twelfth
- vacuum
- width
- wolf
[edit] External links
- RhymeZone - an online rhyme finder
- WikiRhymer - a free online rhyme finder in "wiki" form
- "rhymes with orange"
- definition of "perfect rhyme"
- Slant rhymes for words without perfect rhymes
- English dictionary of rhymes
[edit] Notes
- ^ The OED lists sporange is an alternate form of the word sporangium. It is debatable whether the pronunciation of sporange truly rhymes with orange. The only pronunciation listed in the Oxford English Dictionary has the accent on the second syllable: /spɒ'rændʒ/, roughly "spo-RANDJ", though alternate pronunciations are possible
- ^ Curple, in Scots, is another name for the buttocks, or the hindquarters of a horse. There is debate as to whether Scottish, or dialectal words should be counted as English rhymes
- ^ Hurple means to walk lamely or to hobble
- ^ The Oxford English Dictionary lists "chilver" as an Old English noun meaning a ewe lamb, often referred to as a "chilver lamb", and cites uses as recent as 1883. There is debate over whether archaic words should count as English rhymes
- ^ although the OED lists culb, a retort
- ^ Of has no rhyme in Received Pronunciation, but rhymes with "love" in General American
