The Rhyming Dictionary: A Poet’s Prized Posession

I’m a little too happy with that alliteration.

But anyway, back to rhyming dictionaries. The magic wand of the poet – or maybe, the magic bullet (at least, that’s how it feels sometimes). I imagine most of you know what a rhyming dictionary is (if not, the name gives it away), and although not many people buy hardcopies anymore, there are several free online (and I imagine that most of you have used one).

I think the most popular/common one is rhymezone.

What many people don’t realize is that you can get different rhymes from different dictionaries, especially in the 2-syllable and 3-syllable word options. Pick a word, look it up in both rhymezone and rhymer, and you’ll get a little variation in word choice. It’s not always enough to be worth the effort – if you find a word you like with one search, there’s no need to look elsewhere. If you’re struggling for a word, it can’t hurt to try a different site.

Or a hard copy.

Like an unabridged dictionary compared to the one on your computer, an unabridged rhyming dictionary may have additional options. It can also work without the internet, which is nice. If you want one on the go, you can also check out rhyming dictionary apps. Rhymezone even has its own, or there are ones aimed at different writing styles (such as rap).

That’s the other reason to check out a couple options instead of always using the first one that turns up on your google search (or the only one you remember) – some of them have variations on the type of rhyme they count. They all do end rhyme, but some do beginning rhymes, some only do perfect rhymes, and some show words that sound similar but don’t quite rhyme (ones with slant rhyme and assonance, for example). If you look them over, you can pick the one that shows the types of rhymes you’re looking for.

Wow. That’s at least 3 different mediums of rhyming dictionary. How spoiled is that?