Types of Rhyme
Rhyme isn't one thing. Poets and songwriters draw on several kinds — some exact, some deliberately loose, some defined by where they fall in a line. Here are the main types, each with an example.
Perfect rhyme
The stressed vowel and every sound after it match exactly. The strongest, most familiar kind of rhyme.
cat / hat · nation / vacation
Slant (near) rhyme
The sounds are close but not identical — sharing a vowel or a final consonant without matching fully. Great for subtlety and for “unrhymable” words.
worm / swarm · shape / keep
Internal rhyme
A rhyme that falls within a single line rather than at its end. A staple of songwriting and rap.
“…midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary.”
Eye rhyme
Words that look like they should rhyme because of their spelling, but don't when spoken aloud.
love / move · cough / bough
Identical rhyme
A word rhymed with itself, or with a homophone — the exact same sound, not just a matching ending.
bare / bear · sea / see
Masculine vs. feminine rhyme
Masculine rhyme falls on a single final stressed syllable; feminine rhyme spans two syllables, ending on an unstressed one.
delight / tonight (masculine) · flower / power (feminine)
Our finder returns both perfect and slant rhymes for any word.
Try the rhyme finder →FAQ
What are the main types of rhyme?
The most common are perfect rhyme (exact matches like cat/hat), slant or near rhyme (close matches like worm/swarm), internal rhyme (rhyme within a line), and eye rhyme (words that look alike but don't sound alike, like love/move). Rhymes are also described as masculine (one stressed syllable) or feminine (two syllables).
What is the difference between perfect and slant rhyme?
A perfect rhyme matches from the stressed vowel to the end exactly (time/rhyme). A slant rhyme only comes close — sharing some, but not all, of the sound (time/mine). Slant rhymes are what you reach for when a word has no perfect rhyme.
Is internal rhyme a type of rhyme?
Yes — internal rhyme describes where the rhyme falls (inside a line) rather than the sound itself. A line's internal rhymes can be perfect or slant.