List of English words without rhymes

Following the strict definition of rhyme, 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 from discombobulate, 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.OED search for pronunciations ending in "*QbjUleIt". 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 for elbow, does not create a perfect rhyme for it.

Words that rhyme in one accent or dialect may not rhyme in another. A commonplace example of this is the word of {{IPAc-en|ɒ|v}}, which when stressed had no rhymes in British Received Pronunciation prior to the 19th century, but which rhymed with grave and mauve in some varieties of General American.In RP, stressed of currently has the rhymes sov, short for sovereign, and Sov, short for Soviet. 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.

This list includes rhymes of words that have been listed as rhymeless.

• airt (rhymes with the Scots pronunciations of various other words, e.g. "pairt",{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pairt |title=Pairt | Definition of Pairt by Merriam-Webster |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |date=2018-07-19 |access-date=2018-07-29}} a Scots variant of "part", and "smairt", a Scots variant of "smart"{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smairt |title=Smairt |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |access-date=2024-08-05}})
• aitch {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|eɪ|tʃ}} rhymes with dialectal nache (the bony point on the rump of an ox or cow), Rach, a hypocoristic for the name Rachel, one pronunciation of obsolete rache (a streak down a horse's face), and the surname of Anne Heche.
• angst {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|æ|ŋ|k|s|t}} rhymes with manxedLopped off in a way reminiscent of a Manx cat's taillessness: in Horse Nonsense by R. J. Yeatman. and wangst, self-indulgent self-pity (a portmanteau of wank and angst); phalanxed is not a perfect rhyme because the stress is on the wrong syllable. The alternative American pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑː|ŋ|k|s|t}} has no rhymes.Exceptions for perfect rhymes with angst and angsts being some dialectical or theatrical (such as in performances of Shakespeare's plays) pronunciations of verbs conjugated in the somewhat obsolete second person plural form associated with the pronoun thou, which end with -est or -st. For example, thankest and wrongest, as in "thou thankest me too much" or "wrongst thou not me!", depending on how the words thankest {{IPAc-en|θ|æ|ŋ|k|s|t}} and wrongst {{IPAc-en|r|ɑː|ŋ|k|s|t}} are pronounced, with the latter dependent on being subject to vowel-forward version of the cot–caught merger.
• beige {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|eɪ|ʒ}} rhymes with greige, a colour between grey and beige.
• blitzed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|t|s|t}} rhymes with spritzed, from spritz, to squirt with water or mist, schizzed as in schizzed out, and one pronunciation of "midst".{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/midst |title=Midst Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster |date=16 March 2024 |publisher=Merriam-webster.com}}
• boing, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔɪ|ŋ|,_|-|z}} rhymes with doing (etymology 2), the sound made by an elastic object when struck by or striking a hard object, and toing/toings, the sound of a metallic vibration.
• bombed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɒ|m|d}} rhymes with glommed, American slang for 'attached'.In General American, this also rhymes with calmed.
• borscht, borshcht {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔːr|ʃ|t}} rhymes with dialectical warshed (washed){{cite web|url=http://linguistlist.org/ask-ling/message-details1.cfm?AsklingID=200319109 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203153859/http://linguistlist.org/ask-ling/message-details1.cfm?AsklingID=200319109 |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 3, 2017 |title=LINGUIST List Home Page |publisher=Linguistlist.org |access-date=2018-07-29}})
• cairn rhymes with bairn, a Northern English and Scottish word meaning child.
• coif {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔɪ|f}} rhymes with boyf, slang for "boyfriend".
• cusp {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|s|p}} rhymes with Dual-specificity phosphatase, an acronym for "dual-specificity phosphatase enzyme".
• cleansed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛ|n|z|d}} rhymes with lensed, "provided with a lens or lenses".
• doth {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|θ}} rhymes with Cuth, a hypocoristic for the name Cuthbert, as in "Cuth's Day" at St. Cuthbert's Society.
• dreamt {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛ|m|t}} rhymes with verklemmt, too overcome with emotion to speak. (Furthermore, if the rime is pronounced as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛ|m|p|t}}, it rhymes with exempt, tempt, etc.)
• else {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛ|l|s}} rhymes with wels, the fish Silurus glanis; and Chels, a hypocoristic for the name Chelsea.
• eth {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛ|ð}} rhymes with Castilian Spanish merced, 'gift', which is occasionally used in English.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}
• fiends {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|iː|n|d|z}} rhymes with teinds, Scottish word for the portion of an estate assessed for the stipend of the clergy, and archaic Scottish piends.
• film, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|l|m|,_|-|z}} rhymes with pilm, Scottish word for dust. The plural films rhymes with Wilms, a German surname and a kidney tumor
• flange {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|æ|n|dʒ}} rhymes with Ange, a hypocoristic for the name Angela.
• fourths {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔːr|θ|s}} rhymes with North's, belonging to someone named North (such as Oliver North or Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's daughter North West).
• fugue, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|uː|ɡ|,_|-|z}} rhymes with jougs, which is rarely found in the singular; one pronunciation of Moog, the synthesizer brand name; Droog, the sister catalogue to Delia*s for boys; zhoug, a green Yemeni sauce; doogh, a savory Persian yogurt drink; cheug, a slang term for a person who has an outdated idea of what is trendy; the boog, short for the boogaloo movement; and Zoog Disney. The plural rhymes with the name of Zoogz Rift.
• grilse {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|l|s}} rhymes with fils (etymology 2), a hundredth or thousandth of the monetary units of many Arab countries.
• gulf, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|l|f|,_|-|s}} rhymes with SULF1 (pl. Sulfs), any of a number of sulfate-regulating enzymes.
• kiln, -s, if pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|l|n|,_|-|z}}, rhymes with the surname Milne. The plural rhymes with Milne's, belonging to someone with the surname Milne.
• loge {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|oʊ|ʒ}} rhymes with the English pronunciation of Limoges, a city in France, and a kind of porcelain.
• midst {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|d|s|t}} rhymes with didst, the archaic second-person singular for did (used with thou). The alternate pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɪ|t|s|t}} rhymes with blitzed and spritzed.
• month {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|n|θ}} rhymes with oneth, a mathematical term; also en-plus-oneth (n + 1)th and compounds like ninety-oneth (= ninety-first).Also attested in poetry is onety-oneth {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ʌ|n|t|i|ˈ|w|ʌ|n|θ}} This also appears in fractions and so takes the plural, as in twenty thirty-oneths.
• oblige {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aɪ|dʒ|}} rhymes with Nige, a hypocoristic for the name Nigel.It also forms an identity rhyme with the African-American surname Blige, most notably borne by R&B singer Mary J. Blige.
• oink, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔɪ|ŋ|k|,_|-|s}} rhymes with yoink/yoinks, a colloquial interjection expressing the stealing or sudden acquisition of something; boink/boinks, a slang word meaning "to have sex with"; and Spoink, a Pokémon species introduced in Generation III.
• pint {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aɪ|n|t}} rhymes with rynt, a word milkmaids use to get a cow to move.The plural has a common rhyme in the surname Heintz.
• plagued {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|eɪ|g|d}} rhymes with vagued, meaning "wandered/roamed" or "became vague/acted vaguely".
• plinth {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|n|θ}} rhymes with synth, colloquial for synthesizer.
• quaich {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|eɪ|x}} rhymes with scraich/scraigh, Scots for "to screech", and one pronunciation of abeigh, a rare Scottish word meaning "cautiously aloof".
• rouged {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|uː|ʒ|d}} rhymes with luged, having ridden on a luge.
• sylph rhymes with MILF/milf, vulgar slang; and Wilf, a hypocorism for the name Wilfred.
• thesp {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛ|s|p}} rhymes with hesp, a measure of two hanks of linen thread in Scotland; and Cresp, a French surname.
• torsk {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔr|s|k}} rhymes with Norsk, a rural locality in Russia
• tufts rhymes with scufts, the third-person singular form of the dialectal verb scuft.{{cite book|last1=Nodal|first1=John H.|last2=Milner|first2=George|title=A Glossary of the Lancashire Dialect, Volume 14|date=1875|publisher=Manchester Literary Club|page=233|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NHYKAAAAIAAJ&q=scuft&pg=PA233|access-date=19 December 2016}}
• waltzed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔː|l|t|s|t}} rhymes with schmaltzed, as in "schmaltzed up" (see schmaltz).
• wasp rhymes with knosp, "an ornament in the form of a bud or knob".
• wharves {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔr|v|z}} rhymes with dwarves, the variant of dwarfs usually used in fantasy of the Tolkienian model. It also rhymes with corves, the plural of corf, a type of basket.
• width {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|d|θ}} rhymes with obsolete sidth, meaning length.
• yoicks {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔɪ|k|s}} rhymes with oiks, the plural of oik, a slang term for a boorish member of the lower class in the U.K. and Ireland. It also forms an identity rhyme with joiks.

• angsty {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|æ|ŋ|k|s|t|i}} rhymes with planxty, an Irish or Welsh melody for the harp.
• arugula {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|uː|ɡ|j|əl|ə}} rhymes with Bugula, a genus of bryozoan, in American English.
• chaos {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|eɪ|.|ɒ|s}} rhymes with naos, the inner chamber of a temple.
• chimney {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|m|n|i}} rhymes with Jimny, a model of car from Japanese automaker Suzuki.
• chocolate {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɒ|k|l|ᵻ|t}} rhymes with auklet, any of the smaller species of auks, in General American, in which the vowel in the accented syllable is pronounced /ɑ/ in both words.
• circle {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɜr|k|əl}} rhymes with hurkle, to pull in all one's limbs; novercal, like a stepmother; squircle, a geometric shape resembling a square with rounded edges (e.g., Lamé's special quartic); opercle, an opercular bone; and the surnames of Angela Merkel (as pronounced in English), Studs Terkel, and Steve Urkel.It is also a homonym of cercal.
• circus {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɜr|k|ə|s}} rhymes with murcous, having cut off one's thumb; and Quercus, a genus of oak.
• diamond {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aɪ|m|ə|n|d}} rhymes with hymened, having a hymen of a specified description, as in the word tough-hymened.{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/books/review/the-selected-letters-of-ralph-ellison.html | title=Ralph Ellison's Letters Reveal a Complex Philosopher of Black Expression | work=The New York Times | date=19 December 2019 | last1=Hartman | first1=Saidiya }}
• elbow {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛ|l|b|oʊ}} rhymes with the surname of Vivian Selbo.
• music {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|juː|z|ɪ|k}} rhymes with anchusic, as in anchusic acid; dysgeusic, having a disorder that causes alterations in one's sense of taste; ageusic, lacking a sense of taste; and sheltopusik, a lizard of Europe and Central Asia.
• neutron {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|uː|t|r|ɒ|n}}, in American English, rhymes with Lutron, an electronics company based in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania.
• ninja, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|n|dʒ|ə|,_|-|z}} rhymes with Rohingya, a minority group in Myanmar, and Shinja, a Christian who practices martial arts {{cn|date=June 2023}} (in rhotic accents such as General American; in non-rhotic accents such as RP, these words also rhyme with ginger, injure, etc.).
• opus (with a short 0), {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɒ|p|ə|s}}, rhymes with Hoppus, a method of measuring timber and surname of Mark Hoppus, lead singer of Blink-182; and, in American English, one pronunciation of tapas, Mexican finger food.With the American pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ˈ|oʊ|p|ə|s}} with a long o, opus rhymes with other words, such as Canopus, lagopous, monopus (one-eyed), and slang mopus. If the /ᵻ/ in coppice is considered interchangeable with a schwa, then this word also rhymes with the British pronunciation.
• orange {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɒr|ᵻ|n|dʒ}}, rhymes with "door hinge" in certain accents; Blorenge, a hill in Wales; and "blorange", slang for a hair color between blond and orange. Webster's Third gives two pronunciations for sporange, one of which rhymes. However, one is a spelling pronunciation based on orange, and the OED only has the non-rhyming pronunciation, with the stress on the ange : {{IPAc-en|s|p|ɒ|ˈ|r|æ|n|dʒ}}. The American pronunciation of orange with one syllable has no rhyme, even in non-rhotic accents.Held, Carl. "Breaking the Orange Rhyme Barrier". Games. Issue 167 (Vol. 25, No. 1). pp. 10–13. February 2001.
• plankton {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|æ|ŋ|k|t|ən}} rhymes with Yankton, a member of a western branch of the Dakota people and several American place names named after the people.
• poem {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|oʊ|ə|m}}, in American English, rhymes with the Hebrew names Noam, Jeroboam and Rehoboam; no'm, a dialectal contraction for "no, ma'am"; or with phloem (/ˈfləʊ.əm/) (pronunciations vary).When it is pronounced {{IPAc-en|p|oʊ|m}}, it rhymes with "home", "comb", "Rome", etc.
• poet {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|oʊ|.|ᵻ|t}} rhymes with coit, to have sex.
• purple {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɜr|p|əl}} rhymes with curple, the hindquarters of a horse or donkey, hirple, to walk with a limp,Held, Carl. "Orange, Silver, now Purple (More Lexical Lunacy)". Games. Issue 207 (Vol. 29, No. 1). pp. 4–9, 16. February 2005. nurple, the act of roughly twisting a nipple (slang).
• rhythm {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|ð|əm}} rhymes with Lytham, a seaside town in England; and smitham, fine malt or ore dust.Rhythmic has no rhymes apart from logarithmic and algorithmic, which are often excluded for having identical syllables.
• silver {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|l|v|ər}} rhymes with chilver, a female lamb.Held, Carl. "From Orange to Silver (More Lexical Lunacy)". Games. Issue 200 (Vol. 28, No. 4). pp. 4–9, 16. May 2004.
• siren {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aɪ|r|ə|n}} rhymes with gyron, a type of triangle in heraldry; environ, meaning to encircle or surround; the given names Byron and Myron; and apeiron, meaning infinity.
• soldier {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|əʊ|l|dʒ|ər}} rhymes with the surnames Bolger and Folger
• toilet {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔɪ|l|ᵻ|t}} rhymes with oillet, an eyelet.
• woman {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʊ|m|ən}} rhymes with toman (some pronunciations), a Persian coin and military division.The plural women rhymes with the more common persimmon and the surname of Jamie McCrimmon in some American pronunciations.
• yttrium {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|t|r|i|əm}} rhymes with liberum arbitrium, a legal term.

{{more citations needed section|date=May 2016}}

The majority of words with antepenultimate stress, such as ambulance,[https://www.sbs.com.au/news/online-first-aid-video-teaches-baby-cpr-with-nursery-rhymes Online first-aid video teaches baby CPR with nursery rhymes], SBS News 2016. The inability of the characters to rhyme "ambulance" is made into a plot point which they solve by mispronouncing it. citizen, dangerous and obvious, are non-rhyming. Also, most words with preantepenultimate stress, such as (un)necessary, logarithm, algorithm and sacrificing, have no rhyme.

{{Expand list|date=August 2008}}

Refractory one-syllable rhymes are uncommon; there may be fewer than a hundred in English.In the August 1980 Kickshaws,[http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2524&context=wordways] Howard Bergerson listed 55, but rhymes have been found for some of them.[http://www.painintheenglish.com/post.php?id=813]
Apart from those listed under 'obscure rhymes' above, these are,
beards – weirds; filched – obs. milched, dial. pilched, slang zilched; fluxed – bruxed, betuxed (dressed in a tux), dial. muxed; jinxed – sphinxed, obs. nonce minxed; lairds – cairds (both Scottish); leashed – schottisched, niched (one pronunciation), Sc. creeshed; mouthed – southed (alt. pronunciation in Dict.com, but not OED); mulched – gulched; puss (cat, face) – wuss, schuss; scalds – tech. faulds, obs. balds, Sc. caulds & spauld; tenth/s – nth/s; tufts – Crufts, yufts (Russian leather). A great many end in a present or historical suffix -th, or are plural or participle forms. This list includes a few polysyllabic masculine rhymes such as obliged, which have one syllable in their rhyming part.Though Cole reported a phrasal rhyme in "Elijah knew, oblige a Jew".

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

1. adzed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|æ|d|z|d}}
2. alb /-ælb/{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/alb |title=Alb definition and meaning |publisher=Collins English Dictionary |access-date=2018-07-29}} (rhymes with some pronunciations of the proper noun "Kalb"{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Kalb |title=Kalb - definition of Kalb by The Free Dictionary |publisher=Thefreedictionary.com |access-date=2018-07-29}} in the name of Johann de Kalb)
3. amongst /-ʌŋst/ ("quincunxed" qualifies apart from the final syllable being unstressed)
4. angsts {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|æ|ŋ|k|s|t|s}}The alternative American pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑː|ŋ|k|s|t}} has no rhymes even in the singular.
5. bilge {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|l|dʒ}}
6. boinged {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔɪ|ŋ|d}}
7. breadth, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛ|d|θ|,_|-|s}}
8. bronzed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɒ|n|z|d}}
9. bulb, -s, -ed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|l|b|,_|-|z|,_|-|d}}Bulb can be assumed to rhyme with culb, an obsolete word (and hapax legomenon) for a glass distillation vessel attested without pronunciation from 1683.
10. calced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|æ|l|s|t}} (may rhyme with "valsed" in British English, according to the Oxford English Dictionary)
11. combs (combinations) {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɒ|m|b|z}}
12. coolth {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|uː|l|θ}}
13. corpsed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔːr|p|s|t}}
14. culm {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|l|m}}
15. delft {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛ|l|f|t}}
16. depth, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛ|p|θ|,_|-|s}}
17. dumbth {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|m|θ}}
18. eighth, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|eɪ|t|θ|,_|-|s}}
19. excerpts (verb) {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɜr|p|t|s}}
20. false {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔː|l|s}}In GA, this rhymes with Hals, a neighborhood in Passau, Germany.
21. fifth, -ed, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|f|θ|,_|-|t|,_|-|s}} (has rhymes for those who drop the f or th)
22. filmed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|l|m|d}}The plural films rhymes with Wilms, a German surname, and a kidney tumor.
23. glimpsed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|m|p|s|t}}
24. goonch {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʊ|n|tʃ}}
25. gouge(d) {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aʊ|dʒ}}
26. (en)gulfed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|l|f|t}}
27. kilned {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|l|n|d}} (but not when pronounced as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|l|d}})
28. kirsch {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪər|ʃ}}
29. midsts {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|d|s|t|s}}
30. mulcts {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|l|k|t|s}}The infinitive mulct rhymes with sulked, bulked, etc.
31. ninth, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aɪ|n|θ|,_|-|s}}
32. obliged {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aɪ|dʒ||d}}
33. obvs {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɒ|b|v|z}}
34. oomph {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|uː|m|f}}
35. pierced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪər|s|t}}
36. prompts {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɒ|m|t|s}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɒ|m|p|t|s}}
37. scarce {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛər|s}}
38. sculpts {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|l|p|t|s}}
39. sixth, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|k|(|s|)|θ|,_|-|s}}
40. sowthed, southed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aʊ|θ|t}}As {{IPA|/ˈsaʊθt/}}. The verbs sowthed (as in sowthed a tune) and southed (pointed south) are identical and therefore not considered rhymes to each other. Phrases like foul-mouthed {{IPA|/ˈfaʊlmaʊθt/}}, though close, have the wrong stress to be perfect rhymes. Sowths, souths rhyme with mouth's. (Southed but not sowthed is also pronounced {{IPA|/ˈsaʊðd/}}, which rhymes with mouthed.)
41. spoilt {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔɪ|l|t}}
42. stilb {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|l|b}}
43. sudsed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|d|z|d}}{{cite web |last=Kaufman |first=Jeff |date=21 January 2018 |title=Possible one-syllable words |url=https://www.jefftk.com/p/possible-one-syllable-words |website=www.jefftk.com |access-date=1 April 2025}}
44. swoln {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|oʊ|l|n}}
45. traipsed {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|eɪ|p|s|t}}
46. twelfth, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛ|l|f|θ|,_|-|s}} The "f" in "twelfth" is commonly elided in casual speech, causing "twelfth" to rhyme with "health" and "wealth".
47. unbeknownst {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|oʊ|n|s|t}}
48. vuln, -ed, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʌ|l|n|,_|-|d|,_|-|z}}
49. warmth {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔːr|m|θ}}
50. whilst {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aɪ|l|s|t}}
51. with {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|ð}} (the word is also pronounced with {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɪ|θ}}, in which case it has rhymes like "pith")
52. wolf, -ed, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʊ|l|f|,_|-|t|,_|-|s}}
53. wolve, -d, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ʊ|l|v|,_|-|d|,_|-|z}}
54. worlds {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɜːr|l|d|z}}
55. wounds {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|uː|n|d|z}}

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pork {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|oʊ|r|k}} and forge {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|oʊ|r|dʒ}} have no rhymes in conservative RP.{{cite book |last=Loring |first=Andrew |date=1920 |title=The Rhymers' Lexicon |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/rhymerslexicon00loririch/page/n39/mode/2up?q=forge|location=London |publisher=George Routledge & Sons, Ltd |pages=xxxiii–xxxiv}} However, the distinction between horse and hoarse has been mostly lost in younger generations, and for them and many others pork which was an exception to the normal rule, now rhymes with fork and cork ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɔːr|k}}), while forge now rhymes with gorge. The OED no longer lists {{IPA|/pɔək/}} as an alternative pronunciation in its third edition.

Nonce words ending in -ed ('provided with') may produce other potentially refractory masculine rhymes.Some promising words are befezzed (wearing a fez) and bemusicked, though the first rhymes with Yezd. There are additional words which are only partially assimilated into English, such as Russian kovsh {{IPA|/ˈkɒvʃ/}}, which are refractory rhymes.

The contraction daren't {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɛər|n|t}} has no known rhymes in any English dialect, however the legitimacy of contractions as a single word is disputed. Regardless of this, daren't lacks both perfect rhymes and phrasal rhymes.

Although not meant as a complete list, there are some additional refractory rhymes in GA. Some of these are due to RP being a non-rhotic accent, and having merged rhymes formerly distinguished by {{IPA|/r/}}.

1. heighth, -s {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aɪ|t|θ|,_|-|s}}Colloquial GA heighth is {{IPA|/ˈhaɪtθ/}}. In RP, highth {{IPA|/ˈhaɪθ/}} rhymes with dryth (= drought), rithe, etc., but is obsolete.
2. iron {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aɪər|n}}Two syllables, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|aɪ|.|ər|n}}, for many speakers. In RP, this rhymes with lion, cyan, Zion, etc.
3. karsts {{IPAc-en|ˈ|-|ɑr|s|t|s}}In RP, this rhymes with fasts.

For feminine rhymes, the final two syllables must match to count as a rhyme. 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.{{cite web | title=Rhymes | url=http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1946 | work=Language Log | last=Liberman | first=Mark | author-link=Mark Liberman | date=8 December 2009 | access-date=8 December 2009}} The following words are representative, but there are thousands of others.

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1. angel
2. angry This has a derived rhyme in hangry, and also rhymes with the first part of Shangri-la.
3. anxious
4. comment
5. empty In the song "I Like the Way" by Darren Hayes, this is rhymed with the nonce word "temptee", i.e. one who is tempted, in the line "But temptation tempts the temptee".
6. engine If apostrophic rhymes are accepted, this could be said to rhyme with "avengin'". In the pin-pen merger, engine would rhyme with "syringin."
7. foible
8. foyerBritish pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|ɔɪ|eɪ}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|ɔɪ|j|eɪ}} only. The US pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|ɔɪər}} has many rhymes including coyer and lawyer. In GA, the former pronunciation rhymes with the surname of singer Alison Moyet.
9. hundred(th)
10. husband
11. liquid
12. luggage It rhymes with the neologism druggage, which is a portmanteau derived from drug and luggage to refer to drugs illegally smuggled into airports, e.g. [https://thenationonlineng.net/ex-ministers-druggage-niger-bridge/ this article].
13. monster
14. nothing
15. olive
16. penguin
17. polka For some (GA) speakers, polka rhymes with mocha, coca, and Almond Roca
18. problem
19. sanction
20. sandwich
21. secret
22. something Though of course something rhymes with phrases such as this dumb thing.
23. zigzag

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• List of closed pairs of English rhyming words

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• [http://flocabulary.com/rhymeswithorange/ Slant rhymes for words without perfect rhymes]

{{DEFAULTSORT:English words without rhymes}}

Rhyme

Category:Rhyme