What is Slant Rhyme?
Also called: near rhyme, half rhyme, imperfect rhyme
A slant rhyme is a rhyme where the words sound similar but do not match exactly, usually because the vowels match and the consonants differ, as in home and bone or mind and time.
Perfect rhymes like cat and hat match all the sounds from the last stressed vowel onward. Slant rhymes loosen that rule, which hugely increases the number of words that can work together.
In songs, slant rhymes are everywhere, because singing smooths over small differences in consonants. They let a lyric say exactly what it means instead of picking a word only because it rhymes.
Too many weak slant rhymes can make a lyric feel loose; mixing them with perfect rhymes at key moments keeps the ear satisfied.
Put it to work
Find perfect and near rhymes for any word, grouped by syllable count.
Rhyme Finder