Half rhyme

Half rhyme or slant rhyme, sometimes called near-rhyme or lazy rhyme, is a type of rhyme formed by words with similar but not identical sounds. In most instances, either the vowel segments are different while the consonants are identical, or vice versa. This type of rhyme is also called approximate rhyme, inexact rhyme, imperfect rhyme (in contrast to perfect rhyme), off rhyme, analyzed rhyme, or suspended rhyme.

Use in hip hop/rap

See also: Rapping § Rhyme

Half rhyme is often used, along with assonance, in rap music. This can be used to avoid rhyming clichés (e.g. rhyming "knowledge" with "college") or obvious rhymes, and gives the writer greater freedom and flexibility in forming lines of verse. Additionally, some words have no perfect rhyme in English, necessitating the use of slant rhyme. The use of half rhyme may also enable the construction of longer multisyllabic rhymes than otherwise possible.

In the following lines from the song "N.Y. State of Mind" by rapper Nas, the author uses half rhyme in a complex cross rhyme pattern:

And be prosperous, though we live dangerous
Cops could just arrest me, blamin’ us, we’re held like hostages

Unconventional exceptions

Children's nursery rhyme This Little Piggy displays an unconventional case of slant rhyme. The author rhymes "home" with "none".

This little piggy stayed home...this little piggy had none (re: roast beef).

In The Hives's Dead Quote Olympics, singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist rhymes "idea" with "library":

This time you really got something, it’s such a clever idea
 But it doesn’t mean it’s good because you found it at the libra-ri-a

See also

• Perfect rhyme
• Internal rhyme
• Rhyme