A perfect rhyme for “witness” ends in /ɪtnəs/, 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 “witness” without matching it exactly. Most of the near rhymes end in one of two sounds, /ɪlnəs/ or /ɪknəs/.
Spoken aloud, “witness” is /ˈwɪtnəs/, respelled WIHT-nuhs, 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.
“Witness” has 2 perfect rhymes in common use (eyewitness and fitness) and 11 near rhymes.
In This Page
Two-Word Rhymes With Witness
“Witness” has seven two-word rhymes, each with its ending spread over both words: the first word ends on the stressed syllable and the second word has the rest of the sound. None matches every sound, because the consonant at the start of the final syllable is absent from the second word, so these are near rhymes that sound whole at speaking speed.
- Bit us
- Sit us
- Hit us
- Quit us
- Fit us
- Admit us
- Split us
Perfect Rhymes With Witness
- Eyewitness
- Fitness
Near Rhymes With Witness
Illness and stillness are the most common near rhymes for “witness”, and they end in /ɪlnəs/, the most frequent ending among its eleven near rhymes. A second ending, /ɪknəs/, is heard in words such as sickness and thickness. Measured against the full /ɪtnəs/ ending of “witness”, most of its near rhymes change, add or leave out one sound.
Near Rhymes For Witness Ending In -llness: Illness And Stillness
Common English has two words ending in /ɪlnəs/, each said with /l/ in place of the /t/ of “witness”.
- Illness
- Stillness
Witness Rhymes With An -ickness Ending: Sickness And Thickness
With /k/ in place of the /t/ of “witness”, the ending becomes /ɪknəs/, as in sickness and thickness.
- Sickness
- Thickness
Witness Rhymes Ending In -us, Like Citrus And Nitrous
Citrus and nitrous share the ending /ɪtrəs/, which is /r/ in place of the /n/ of “witness”.
- Citrus
- Nitrous
Business /ɪznəs/, forgiveness /ɪvnəs/, sweetness /itnəs/ and richness /ɪtʃnəs/ are looser near rhymes for “witness”, each on an ending of its own.
Rhymes On The Final Syllable Of Witness
“Witness” ends on an unstressed /-əs/, a syllable it shares with eight common words. Only that last syllable matches and the stressed syllables differ, so the rhyme is weak on the page. Songwriters and poets still use rhymes of this kind, because listeners do not hear the difference in stress when the beat is on the final syllable.
- Us
- Bus
- Plus
- Discuss
- Thus
- Fuss
- Puss
- Wuss
Consonance Rhymes With Witness
In consonance, two words have the same stressed vowel and end on consonants of the same kind, and this is the nearest match any single word has to “witness”. The endings are listed from the nearest match to the loosest, and 19 words on four endings qualify.
Consonance For Witness Like Conditions And Positions
Conditions, positions and politicians end in /ɪʃənz/, on the stressed vowel of “witness” and a consonant of the same kind.
- Conditions
- Positions
- Politicians
- Musicians
- Missions
- Traditions
- Suspicions
- Auditions
Consonance For Witness Like Pickles And Testicles
Words ending in /ɪkəlz/ share the stressed vowel of “witness” and end on a related consonant.
- Pickles
- Testicles
- Tickles
- Nickels
Consonance For Witness Like Decisions And Visions
The /ɪʒənz/ ending appears in four words, each pronounced with the stressed vowel of “witness”.
- Decisions
- Visions
- Provisions
- Divisions
Consonance For Witness Like Killings And Shillings
Against “witness”, the /ɪlɪŋz/ ending matches the stressed vowel and differs after it, as in killings, shillings and billings.
- Killings
- Shillings
- Billings
Does Business Rhyme With Witness
People often ask whether these words rhyme with “witness”. Only the sounds from the stressed vowel on count, so two words can share four letters and still not rhyme.
| Word | Rhymes With Witness | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Eyewitness | Yes | Perfect rhyme, matching every sound from the stressed vowel on |
| Fitness | Yes | Perfect rhyme, matching every sound from the stressed vowel on |
| Business | Near rhyme | /z/ in place of the /t/ of "witness", near enough for the end of a line |
| Illness | Near rhyme | /l/ in place of the /t/ of "witness", near enough for the end of a line |
| Greatness | Consonance only | Same stressed vowel, and the final consonant is of the same kind rather than the same sound |
| Us | No | Only the unstressed last syllable matches, and the stressed syllable is different |
| Happiness | No | Same letters at the end, but said /æpinəs/ |
| Witness' | No | Pronounced identically, so it is a homophone rather than a rhyme |
The Ending Sound In Witness
The rhyme sound of “witness” is /ɪtnəs/, which consists of the stressed vowel /ɪ/ followed by /t/, /n/, /ə/ and /s/. The same ending is shared by two other common words, among them eyewitness and fitness. With two syllables in the ending, a rhyming word must reproduce the stressed vowel and each sound that follows.
Words That Look Like Witness But Do Not Rhyme
In spelling, “witness” matches business, happiness, goodness and darkness on the final -ness, but the pronunciation differs in every one of them. Business ends in /ɪznɪs/ and happiness ends in /æpinəs/, whereas “witness” ends in /ɪtnəs/. These words and “witness” have the same closing /s/, so a pairing with any of them is a near rhyme rather than a perfect rhyme.
| Word | Ending Sound | Closing Sound Shared With Witness |
|---|---|---|
| Business | /ɪznɪs/ | /s/ |
| Happiness | /æpinəs/ | /s/ |
| Goodness | /ʊdnɪs/ | /s/ |
| Darkness | /ɑrknəs/ | /s/ |
| Highness | /aɪnəs/ | /s/ |
| Madness | /ædnəs/ | /s/ |
| Illness | /ɪlnəs/ | /s/ |
| Weakness | /iknəs/ | /s/ |
Rhyme Schemes With Witness
With eyewitness and fitness as its rhymes, “witness” fits the common stanza forms. Lines with the same letter end on the same rhyme sound.
| Scheme | Line endings | How The Lines Pair |
|---|---|---|
| ABAB | Witness / illness / eyewitness / stillness | Alternating lines, with the near rhymes on the B lines and the perfect pair on the A lines. |
| ABCB | … / witness / … / eyewitness | Only the second and fourth lines rhyme, as in the ballad stanza and in most hymns. |
Words Often Listed As Rhymes For Witness
“Witness'” is pronounced the same as “witness”, so it is a homophone rather than a rhyme.
FAQs
Only two common words rhyme perfectly with “witness”: eyewitness and fitness. Few everyday words end in /ɪtnəs/, so these are the only exact matches for “witness”. Writers who need a different word can use near rhymes such as business, illness and forgiveness.
In common English, 13 words rhyme with “witness” once near rhymes are counted alongside perfect ones. Within it, two words match the full /ɪtnəs/ ending and eleven match all but one sound of it.
Songwriters rhyme “witness” across two words, as in bit us or sit us. Sung or spoken at speed, the two words are heard as one with the full ending, which is harder to see in print.
No, “witness'” is not counted as a rhyme for “witness”, because the two words are pronounced exactly alike. For a rhyme, the sound before the shared /ɪtnəs/ ending has to differ.
“Witness” ends in the same letters as happiness, goodness and darkness, yet none of them rhymes with it. Spoken aloud, they have a different stressed vowel from “witness”, so none of them rhymes with it.
“Witness” has two syllables, said WIHT-nuhs, with the stress on the first. Everything from that syllable onward has to match for a word to rhyme with “witness”.
