Rhyme Finder
Type a word to see its perfect rhymes sorted by number of syllables, its near rhymes, and the words that sound like it. Filter by syllable count, choose whether to include phrases, rare words, and names, and click any result to rhyme from there. Free, no sign-up.
Results appear as you type. Click any result to find rhymes for that word.
Type a word to find its perfect rhymes, near rhymes, and words that sound alike.
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Word data from the Datamuse API
How to Use the Rhyme Finder
- Type the word you need to rhyme. Results appear as you type, in three sections: perfect rhymes, near rhymes, and sound-alikes.
- Set the syllable count. Choose 1, 2, 3, or 4+ when the rhyme has to fit a line's meter, or leave it on Any.
- Widen the search if you need to. Phrases, rare words, and names are hidden at first; tick a box to bring them back.
- Click a result to keep going, or copy a list. Each section has its own Copy list button.
Perfect Rhymes, Near Rhymes, and Sound-Alikes
Rhyme is a matter of sound, not spelling, so the finder works from pronunciations — those in the Carnegie Mellon University Pronouncing Dictionary, through the Datamuse API. That is also why it never offers eye rhymes such as love and move, which look alike but do not sound alike.
| Type | What matches | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Perfect rhyme | The last stressed vowel and every sound after it | time → climb, crime, sublime, pastime, paradigm |
| Near rhyme | Close but not identical — usually the same ending with a different vowel | heart → hurt, short, support, report |
| Sound-alike | The whole word sounds similar, rhyme or not | time → tame, team, tomb, tome |
Stress decides what counts as a perfect rhyme. Paradigm rhymes with time because its last stressed syllable, -digm, ends in the same sound. A one-syllable rhyme such as time and climb is called masculine; a rhyme on a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one, such as nation and station, is called feminine. Near rhymes — also called slant or half rhymes — are common in modern poetry and song lyrics, where an exact rhyme on every line can sound forced.
Syllables and Meter
Perfect rhymes are grouped by syllable count, which matters when a line has to scan. Search time with the common-word filters on and the one-syllable group starts prime, chime, slime, climb, lime, rhyme; the two-syllable group starts sublime, lifetime, daytime, nighttime, bedtime; the three-syllable group starts paradigm, pantomime, maritime, summertime. Counts come from the dictionary's standard pronunciation, so words that speakers say differently — fire, hour, memory — may not match the way you say them.
Rhymes as Memory Aids
Rhyme makes a phrase easier to remember, which is why mnemonics so often use it — "In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." It also makes a phrase sound truer than it is. In a 2000 study in Psychological Science, McGlone and Tofighbakhsh found that people rated rhyming sayings such as "Woes unite foes" as more accurate than versions with the same meaning that did not rhyme, such as "Woes unite enemies." Use rhyme to remember a fact; keep it out of the sentence that argues for one.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What rhymes with orange?
- Almost nothing — orange has no common perfect rhyme in English. With phrases and rare words switched on, Datamuse offers only door hinge. The near rhymes are more useful: foreign, torrent, forage, storage, and college share its ending sounds.
- What is the difference between a perfect rhyme and a near rhyme?
- A perfect rhyme matches the last stressed vowel and everything after it: heart and start. A near rhyme, also called a slant or half rhyme, comes close without matching exactly, usually by sharing the final consonants with a different vowel: heart and hurt. Poets use near rhymes to avoid predictable pairings.
- Why do names and strange words appear in the results?
- The pronouncing dictionary behind the results includes thousands of surnames and place names, and Google Books contains rare and archaic words. The finder hides words Datamuse knows only as names, words rarer than 0.05 occurrences per million words, and multi-word phrases until you ask for them. A few borderline words still get through — check anything unfamiliar before you use it.
- How does the finder count syllables?
- Each result's syllable count comes from its pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Where a word can be said more than one way, Datamuse picks the most likely pronunciation, so a word such as fire or every may be counted differently from the way you say it. For counting the syllables in your own lines, use the Syllable Counter.
- Can I use it for song lyrics and rap?
- Yes. Lyrics lean heavily on near rhymes and multi-syllable rhymes, so look past the perfect-rhyme list: the near-rhyme section often has the more natural-sounding choice, and switching on phrases finds rhymes that span several words.
- Is my search sent anywhere?
- The word you type goes to CitationEasy's server, which asks the Datamuse API at api.datamuse.com — three requests per word, one for each section — so Datamuse sees the word but not your IP address. CitationEasy keeps no record of who searched for what; answers are cached by word for up to a week, so a repeat lookup does not ask Datamuse again. Datamuse says it keeps a temporary log of queries and discards it at the end of the day.