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Words that rhyme with lightning — 637 rhymes by quality | Rhyme Land
RhymeLand

the rhymes and the songs that used them

Words that rhyme withlightning

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 AY coda T·N
303
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
dying44crying34trying1lying13fighting6flying7shining12hiding5writing1riding2buying16timing2sighing5climbing3diningsigning37lighting1liking1whining1spying1lining1sliding1biting1chiding1eyeing1pining1twining1vying1biding3bightingbikingblightingbribingbriningchiming
3 syllables
exciting1inviting1defying2denying2deciding1relying1subsiding1abidingaffiningalighting4aligning4aliningapplying1ascribingassigning1backbitingbackslidingbenightingbetidingblindsidingbroadsidingbullfightingcollidingcombiningcomplying1confidingconfining
4 syllables
terrifyinghorrifying1intertwining1redefining1alibiing1amplifying1beautifyingbutterflying7calcifyingcertifyingcircumscribingclarifyingclassifying1codifyingcoinciding
5 syllables
electrifying1acidifyingbeatifying
6 syllables
334
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
driving5rising16smiling1finding1firingblinding1binding1icing2wilding2diving1minding1winding1wiring1dicingfilinggrinding11heistinghiringhivingjivingknifingmeiringmiringpilingpricingprizing
3 syllables
arriving2surprising1advising1arising1beguiling1compiling1conspiring1despising1freestyling1surviving1acquiringadmiringapprisingarchivingaspiringbaptizingcapsizingchastisingcomprisingconniving
4 syllables
advertising1analyzing1appetizing1hypnotizing1aggrandizingamortizinganglicizing
5 syllables
economizing1actualizingalphabetizingaluminizingantagonizingapologising
6 syllables
americanizing
7 syllables
3
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)
2 syllables
lightness2lightnings10
3 syllables
politeness1

“lightning” at line end — from real songs

There is a meeting in my thighsWhere in thunder and lightning
— Adrianne Lenker, “Pretty Things” · rhymes lightning / thighs
I worried 'bout rain and I worried bout lightningMarking the slope, slung low in the highlands
— Bon Iver, “00000 Million” · rhymes lightning / highlands
Let's forget about the tongue-tied lightningThis is not a joke, so please stop smiling
— Jeff Tweedy, “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” · rhymes lightning / smiling

How to read the 637 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.

Subtractive 303
Same vowel, but one word stops a consonant early. A slightly clipped, softer resolution than perfect rhyme.
Assonance 334
Only the stressed vowel matches; the consonants after it are unrelated. Loose and open — useful when a section should stay unresolved.
Identity 3
The whole stressed syllable repeats, beginning included. That's repetition, not rhyme — the line echoes instead of resolving.