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sight rhyme

Rhyme
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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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 in which words appear similar in spelling but differ in pronunciation

Detailed Definition
Sight rhyme (also known as eye rhyme) occurs when words appear to rhyme based on their spelling but do not actually share the same pronunciation—such as “love” and “move” or “bough” and “though”—creating a dissonance between visual expectation and auditory reality; historically common in English poetry due to shifts in pronunciation over time (e.g., in Shakespeare or Milton), sight rhyme can be used deliberately in modern verse to evoke historical echoes, highlight linguistic instability, or generate ironic tension between appearance and sound, thereby foregrounding the materiality of the written word.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Though” and “bough” matching in spelling; “Come” and “home” look alike; “Move” and “love” spelled similarly; “Sight” and “light” match visually
Additional Notes
Sight rhyme pairs words that look alike but sound different (e.g., “love”/“move”). Contrast with true rhyme. Often used for ironic or historical effect—check pronunciation guides for period-appropriate readings.
Also Known As
Eye rhyme Spelling rhyme False rhyme Orthographic rhyme Ocular rhyme Visual rhyme Mind rhyme
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