Quantcast
Words that rhyme with special — 295 rhymes by quality | Rhyme Land
RhymeLand

the rhymes and the songs that used them

Words that rhyme withspecial

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 EH coda SH
20
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
vessel1ethel1bethelethylGesellmethylnestletrestlewrestledevil9level8bevelrevel
3 syllables
daredevil1bedevildishevelembezzlehigh-levellow-level
4 syllables
multilevel
62
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
careful1several1helpfulpencil2dreadfulpretzel1stressful1vengeful1bestialfretfulhealthfulMelvilleprayerfulrestfulstencil
3 syllables
potential2successful1essential1suspensefulcelestial1forgetful1ancestralcredentialeventfulneglectfulorchestral
4 syllables
confidential1existential1influential1consequentialdeferentialdifferentialdisrespectful
5 syllables
experiential
213
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
temple10settle5central4metal4mental4gentle5rebel6medal1pedal4cherylkettle1peril2petal1beryl1meddle1mettle1sheryl1treble1tremble1BengalbeteldarryldentalFarrellfennelferalfreckleheckleHegelKendallkennelLendllentilMemelMendelnettlepebblepeddlerectalrentalseckelshekelspeckle
3 syllables
assemblebackpedaldissembleimperiljudgmentalparentalprojectileresembleresettleunsettleconfession9impression1expression3possession1depression6profession1impressions2possessions3obsession1confessions1succession2aggression1discretion1oppression1professions1progression1recession1transgressions1accessionaccessionedaccessionsaggressions1compression
4 syllables
instrumental2sentimental1transcendental1accidentalcolorectalcompartmentalcontinentaldepartmentaldetrimentaldisassembleelementalepithelialfundamentalgovernmentalincidentalincrementalmonumental
5 syllables
coincidentaldevelopmentalenvironmentalexperimental
6 syllables
intercontinental
7
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
specials9
3 syllables
specialistspecialistsspecialitiesspeciallyspecialtiesspecialty

“special” at line end — from real songs

You float like a featherI wish I was special
— Damien Rice, “Creep” · rhymes special / feather
I miss my hometown, it's nothing special(Girl singing in the wreckage)
— Black Box Recorder, “Girl Singing in the Wreckage” · rhymes special / wreckage
Full-time living on a half-time scheduleAlways trying to make everybody feel special
— Jason Isbell, “Redesigning Women” · rhymes special / schedule

How to read the 295 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.

Family rhyme 20
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 62
Same vowel, but one word carries an extra consonant after the shared ending. The added sound softens the landing slightly.
Assonance 213
Only the stressed vowel matches; the consonants after it are unrelated. Loose and open — useful when a section should stay unresolved.
Identity 7
The whole stressed syllable repeats, beginning included. That's repetition, not rhyme — the line echoes instead of resolving.