What does "assonance" mean?

The repetition of similar or identical vowel sounds (though with different consonants), usually in literature or poetry.

What is a synonym for "assonance"?

Common synonyms include: vowel rhyme, alliteration, blank verse, chime, clink, consonance.

//ˈæsənəns// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The repetition of similar or identical vowel sounds (though with different consonants), usually in literature or poetry. countable, uncountable
""You should try to speak without assonances" said Merlyn. "For instance, 'The beer is never clear round here, dear' is unfortunate, even as an assonance.'""
2
the repetition of similar vowels in the stressed syllables of successive words wordnet

"Assonance is extremely important to Spanish poetry."

From French assonance, from Latin assonāre; by surface analysis, a- + son- + -ance.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.