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Words that rhyme with running — 349 rhymes by quality | Rhyme Land
RhymeLand

the rhymes and the songs that used them

Words that rhyme withrunning

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 AH coda N
8
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
stunning1cunning1bunningdunning1gunningpunningshunningsunning
28
What it is
  1. The syllables' vowel sounds are identical.
  2. The sounds after the vowels come from the same phonetic family (e.g. T↔D, P↔B, M↔N).
  3. The syllables begin differently.
How it feels
  1. Perfect
  2. Family
  3. Additive / Subtractive
  4. Assonance
  5. Consonance
resolvedunresolved
Example

cat / pad — AE vowel; T and D are both stops

Family chart
PlosivesFricativesNasals
VoicedbdgvTHzzhjmnng
Unvoicedptkfthsshch

Each column is a family pair — same place + manner, only the voicing differs.

Source
Berklee College of Music's songwriting method (Pat Pattison)
2 syllables
coming7humming3strumming3drumming2cumming1dumbing1bummingbungingcrumbing2dunging
3 syllables
becoming1incoming1homecoming1succumbing1forthcomingoncomingshortcomingupcoming
4 syllables
overcomingunbecoming
50
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
something25hunting4gruntingjumping1thumping1stunting1blunting4brunching1bumping1bunching5bunking1buntingchunking1clumping
3 syllables
spelunking1affrontingconfrontingdebunkingexpungingrefunding
264
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
nothing30loving9puttingchucklingcuttingbuzzing1touching48judging1sucking1rushing1shuffling2trusting1bluffing1blushing1coupling1crusting1cussing1flooding1fussing1pulsing1rusting1skulking1stuffing1thrusting1blooding51brushing4bucking11bucklingbuddingbudgingbuffingbuggingbulgingbulkingbusing11buskingbussingbusting12butting6chuckingchuggingclubbingcluckingclutching6crushing8
3 syllables
disgusting1discussing1adjusting1conducting1abductingabuttingadjudgingbankrupting1begrudgingbloodsuckingcombustingconstructingconsultingcornhuskingcorrupting1debuggingdecouplingdeductingdestructing2disruptingdistrusting2divulgingencrustingengulfingentrustingeruptingexultinghandcuffing1humbuggingincrustinginductingindulginginstructinginsultingmisjudgingmistrusting1obstructing
4 syllables
interrupting2motherfucking2catapultingdeconstructingjitterbuggingoverstuffingreadjustingreconstructingself-destructingundercuttingpunishablepunishingly
5 syllables
premonitory
16
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
run93
2 syllables
runners1runnings1runny1runnelsrunnerrerun
3 syllables
forerunnerforerunnersgunrunnergunrunnersoutrunningrerunninghit-and-runoverrun
4 syllables
overrunning

“running” at line end — from real songs

Oh! when, but it’s comingKeep the car running
— Arcade Fire, “Keep the Car Running” · rhymes running / coming
I had to leave the countryAll I know is I'll hit the ground running
— Bill Callahan, “Hit the Ground Running” · rhymes running / country
I said, "Baby, I'm finally succumbing"Said something dumb like, "I'm tired of running
— Father John Misty, “The Ideal Husband” · rhymes running / succumbing

How to read the 349 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 8
Same stressed vowel, same sounds after it, different beginning. Full resolution — the strongest closure a rhyme can give a line.
Family rhyme 28
The consonants after the vowel are swapped for phonetic siblings — T↔D, M↔N, S↔Z. Nearly as stable as perfect rhyme, with far more word choices.
Additive 50
Same vowel, but one word carries an extra consonant after the shared ending. The added sound softens the landing slightly.
Assonance 263
Only the stressed vowel matches; the consonants after it are unrelated. Loose and open — useful when a section should stay unresolved.
Identity 16
The whole stressed syllable repeats, beginning included. That's repetition, not rhyme — the line echoes instead of resolving.