A perfect rhyme for “science” ends in /aɪəns/, the sound from its stressed vowel to the end of the word. Near rhymes differ by a single sound, which is enough to end a line beside “science” without matching it exactly. Most of the near rhymes end in one of two sounds, /aɪən/ or /aɪəts/.
Spoken aloud, “science” is /ˈsaɪəns/, respelled SY-uhns, two syllables with the stress on the first. A rhyme has to match from that stressed syllable to the end, and the syllables before it are free to differ.
“Science” has 5 perfect rhymes and 5 near rhymes in common use; alliance, defiance and compliance are the most common.
In This Page
What Rhymes With Science
Alliance, defiance, compliance and appliance rhyme with “science”, each one ending in /aɪəns/ from the stressed vowel on. A word that changes one sound of that ending, such as lion or riots, reads as a near rhyme instead.
- Alliance
- Defiance
- Compliance
- Appliance
- Reliance
- Lion
- Ion
- Dandelion
- Riots
- Quiets
Perfect Rhymes With Science
- Alliance
- Defiance
- Compliance
- Appliance
- Reliance
Near Rhymes With Science
The near rhymes for “science” number five, and most of them end in /aɪən/, as lion and ion do. The next most common ending is /aɪəts/, heard in riots and quiets. Measured against the full /aɪəns/ ending of “science”, most of its near rhymes change, add or leave out one sound.
Near Rhymes For Science Ending In -on: Lion And Ion
Each of lion, ion and dandelion ends in /aɪən/, the ending of “science” without its final /s/.
- Lion
- Ion
- Dandelion
Riots And Quiets As Near Rhymes For Science
Riots and quiets end in /aɪəts/, which is /t/ in place of the /n/ of “science”.
- Riots
- Quiets
Does Riots Rhyme With Science
People often ask whether these words rhyme with “science”. Only the sounds from the stressed vowel on count, so two words can share four letters and still not rhyme.
| Word | Rhymes With Science | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Alliance | Yes | Perfect rhyme, matching every sound from the stressed vowel on |
| Defiance | Yes | Perfect rhyme, matching every sound from the stressed vowel on |
| Compliance | Yes | Perfect rhyme, matching every sound from the stressed vowel on |
| Riots | Near rhyme | /t/ in place of the /n/ of "science", near enough for the end of a line |
| Lion | Near rhyme | The ending of "science" without its final /s/, near enough for the end of a line |
| Allowance | Consonance only | Same stressed vowel, and the final consonant is of the same kind rather than the same sound |
| Once | No | Only the unstressed last syllable matches, and the stressed syllable is different |
| Evidence | No | Same letters at the end, but said /ɛvədəns/ |
| Difference | No | Same letters at the end, but said /ɪfrəns/ |
Less Common Rhymes For Science
These less common words rhyme with “science” on every sound from the stressed vowel on, among them neuroscience, noncompliance and pseudoscience. They are standard English but rare in everyday writing, so readers meet them mostly in verse.
- Neuroscience
- Noncompliance
- Pseudoscience
The Two-Syllable Ending In Science
A word rhymes with “science” when it matches /aɪəns/, which is the stressed vowel /aɪ/ followed by /ə/, /n/ and /s/. Alliance, defiance and compliance are three of the five other common words that end in the same sound. With two syllables in the ending, a rhyming word must reproduce the stressed vowel and each sound that follows.
Words That Look Like Science But Do Not Rhyme
“Science” shares its -ence spelling with evidence, difference, experience and audience, and none of them rhymes with it. Evidence ends in /ɛvədəns/ and difference ends in /ɪfrəns/, whereas “science” ends in /aɪəns/. They end on /ns/, as “science” does, so the match is partial: the closing consonants agree and the vowel is different.
| Word | Ending Sound | Closing Sound Shared With Science |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence | /ɛvədəns/ | /ns/ |
| Difference | /ɪfrəns/ | /ns/ |
| Experience | /ɪriəns/ | /ns/ |
| Audience | /ɔdiəns/ | /ns/ |
| Silence | /aɪləns/ | /ns/ |
| Violence | /aɪələns/ | /ns/ |
| Intelligence | /ɛlədʒəns/ | /ns/ |
| Presence | /ɛzəns/ | /ns/ |
Rhyme Schemes With Science
With alliance and defiance as its rhymes, “science” fits the common stanza forms. When a letter repeats, those lines end on the same rhyme sound.
| Scheme | Line endings | How The Lines Pair |
|---|---|---|
| AABB | Science / alliance / defiance / compliance | Two couplets in a row, each pair rhyming on consecutive lines. |
| ABAB | Science / lion / alliance / ion | Alternating lines, with the near rhymes on the B lines and the perfect pair on the A lines. |
| ABCB | … / science / … / alliance | Only the second and fourth lines rhyme, as in the ballad stanza and in most hymns. |
Using Science Rhymes In Poems And Songs
In “To Fanny”, Thomas Moore pairs “science” with alliance:
Thus you see what a brilliant alliance
Thomas Moore (1779-1852), To Fanny
Of arts is assembled in you,–
A course of more exquisite science
Edward Fitzgerald matches “science” with defiance in these lines from “Chivalry at a Discount”:
And chess a pretty science;
Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883), Chivalry at a Discount
And huntsmen learned to blow a morte,
And heralds a defiance;
Alliance and defiance are the most common rhymes for “science” in a longer line or song verse. For a lyric that needs a near rhyme, writers use lion and lions instead.
| Kind Of Line | Line-Ending Pairs | How They Match |
|---|---|---|
| Longer line or song verse | Science / alliance, science / defiance | The longer word ends in the same /aɪəns/, with one more syllable before it |
| Near rhyme in a lyric | Science / lion, science / lions | Same stressed vowel /aɪə/, one sound of the ending differs |
FAQs
The words that rhyme with “science” include compliance, appliance and reliance, which are the ones heard most in speech and song. Alliance and defiance are the other everyday rhymes. The sound they share is /aɪəns/, running from the stressed vowel of “science” to the end of the word.
The total for “science” comes to ten rhymes in everyday English, perfect and near rhymes combined. Of these, five are perfect rhymes with its whole /aɪəns/ ending, and five are near rhymes with one sound of it different.
“Science” ends in the same letters as evidence, difference and experience, yet none of them rhymes with it. Their stressed vowel differs from the /aɪə/ in “science”, so they count as eye rhymes rather than true rhymes.
“Science” has two syllables, said SY-uhns, with the stress on the first. Rhymes for “science” are judged from that stressed syllable to the last sound of the word.
