Home › Glossary › Letter G

Ghost rhyme

Rhyme
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A rhyme that is suggested through near or slant sound but not fully present

Detailed Definition
Ghost rhyme is a near or slant rhyme where words share partial phonetic similarity (e.g., “stone” and “storm”) but not full sonic identity, creating an elusive, haunting echo that suggests connection without closure; it is common in modern and postmodern lyric poetry.
Example
Example in poetry:
In “The Raven,” Poe implies ghost rhyme through “Lenore”/“nevermore” echoes; Emily Dickinson’s slant rhymes (“room”/“storm”) suggest ghost rhyme; Contemporary poet Kay Ryan uses near-misses as ghost rhyme; Ghost rhyme appears in Celtic poetry’s consonance traditions; In hip-hop, ghost rhyme includes implied vowel matches.
Additional Notes
Ghost rhyme: A very subtle or near-rhyme, often involving a shared vowel or consonant sound without being a full slant rhyme, where the sonic connection is more felt or suggested than explicitly heard; also called phantom rhyme.
Also Known As
Shadow rhyme phantom rhyme ghostly echo Palimpsestic Couplet
Skip to main content