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Words that rhyme with holy — 282 rhymes by quality | Rhyme Land
RhymeLand

the rhymes and the songs that used them

Words that rhyme withholy

feminine
Masculine

Ends on a stressed syllable — a one-syllable rhyme, or a multisyllable word whose primary stress lands last. The rhyme hits the final beat, the way most rhymes in songs do.

Examples

love · dove · today · believe · forgot

Feminine this word

Ends with an unstressed syllable trailing the stressed one — always at least two syllables. The rhyme lands a beat earlier and trails off softly.

Examples

river · mother · follow · breaking · mountain

Masculine and feminine endings rarely sing together (the rhyme lands on a different beat), so they're kept apart here.

 vowel OW coda L
6
What it is
  1. The syllables' vowel sounds are identical.
  2. The sounds after the vowels (if any) are identical.
  3. The syllables begin differently.
How it feels
  1. Perfect
  2. Family
  3. Additive / Subtractive
  4. Assonance
  5. Consonance
resolvedunresolved
Example

cat / hat — same AE vowel, same T ending

Source
Berklee College of Music's songwriting method (Pat Pattison)
2 syllables
slowly9goalie1lowly1solely
4 syllables
guacamole1ravioli
19
What it is
  1. The syllables' vowel sounds are identical.
  2. The sounds after the vowels are identical, with one extra consonant on one side.
  3. The syllables begin differently.
How it feels
  1. Perfect
  2. Family
  3. Additive / Subtractive
  4. Assonance
  5. Consonance
resolvedunresolved
Example

love / loved — extra D on one side

Source
Berklee College of Music's songwriting method (Pat Pattison)
2 syllables
lonely27only15mostly1closely4boldly2ghostly1colbycoldlyDolbyGolgigrosslyhomelymoldymouldyOakleyoldiepoultry
3 syllables
chipotleremotely
mosaic rhyme
control me1stole me1
9
What it is
  1. The syllables' vowel sounds are identical.
  2. The sounds after the vowels are identical, but one side stops one consonant earlier.
  3. The syllables begin differently.
How it feels
  1. Perfect
  2. Family
  3. Additive / Subtractive
  4. Assonance
  5. Consonance
resolvedunresolved
Example

cried / cry — one side missing the final D

Source
Berklee College of Music's songwriting method (Pat Pattison)
2 syllables
joeychloezoeblowyBowiedoughyshowysnowyzoey
248
What it is
  1. The syllables' vowel sounds are the same.
  2. The consonants after the vowel are not phonetically related.
  3. The syllables begin differently.
How it feels
  1. Perfect
  2. Family
  3. Additive / Subtractive
  4. Assonance
  5. Consonance
resolvedunresolved
Example

love / dot — both AH, but V and T have nothing in common

Assonance rhymes always have consonants after the vowels, but the consonants cannot be phonetically related.

Source
Berklee College of Music's songwriting method (Pat Pattison)
2 syllables
tony1sophietoby1pony5rosie1trophy3phony4Cody1brodie1coney1jodi1jodie1obie1sony1stoney1boccebogeyboneybonybrodycosycozycronydopeyfoamyfogyfolksygnocchiGobiGroznyhoagiehoagyhokeyhomeyHopijosieKomiloamyLoewimoseynosyokeyphoney
3 syllables
Naomi1coyote1antone1Muskogee2maroney1adobeanchovybaloneybolognaDostoevskiDostoevskyJacobiLugosiMarconiNairobipalloneSalomeShoshoneViscontiZambonicontrolling1Angolabankrollingbipolarcajolingcanolacanolascharcoalingcoleuscomptrollercomptrollerscondolenceconsoling
4 syllables
ceremony2testimonykaraoke1abaloneacrimonyalimonycannellonichalcedonyhypertrophylobotomymacaronimatrimonyminestroneOkeechobeepalimonyparsimonypatrimonypedagogypepperonirigatonisanctimony
5 syllables
6 syllables
ring-around-the-rosy
24
What it is
  1. The syllables' vowel sounds are identical.
  2. The sounds after the vowels (if any) are identical.
  3. The syllables begin the same — repetition, not a rhyme.
How it feels

Off the rhyme scale — identity is repetition, not resolution. Shown so you can spot it, not reach for it.

Example

fuse / confuse — both stressed syllables are 'fuse'

Source
Berklee College of Music's songwriting method (Pat Pattison)
1 syllable
hole29whole15
2 syllables
wholly1holaholies2holingpothole3pinhole1arseholeblowholefoxholekeyhole
3 syllables
unholy1holinessbuttonhole2cubbyholepigeonhole
4 syllables
buttonholingpigeonholing

“holy” at line end — from real songs

Bang the drum slowly, play the pipe lowlyBang the drum slowly I'll speak of things holy
— Guy Clark, “Bang The Drum Slowly” · rhymes holy / lowly
And you know I'm strong and holyI must do what I've been told"
— Leonard Cohen, “Story of Isaac” · rhymes holy / told

How to read the 282 results

Tiers follow Pat Pattison's stability scale — pick the resolution your line needs, not just the closest sound. Bold words are common in lyrics; a struck-through word with a cliché flag is an overworked pair; a vermilion dot counts how often the pair appears at line end in our corpus of real songs.

Perfect rhyme 6
Same stressed vowel, same sounds after it, different beginning. Full resolution — the strongest closure a rhyme can give a line.
Additive 19
Same vowel, but one word carries an extra consonant after the shared ending. The added sound softens the landing slightly.
Subtractive 9
Same vowel, but one word stops a consonant early. A slightly clipped, softer resolution than perfect rhyme.
Assonance 248
Only the stressed vowel matches; the consonants after it are unrelated. Loose and open — useful when a section should stay unresolved.
Identity 24
The whole stressed syllable repeats, beginning included. That's repetition, not rhyme — the line echoes instead of resolving.