assonance
noun
as·so·nance
| \ ˈa-sə-nən(t)s
\
\
Definition of assonance
1a
: relatively close juxtaposition of similar sounds especially of vowels (as in "rise high in the bright sky")
b
: repetition of vowels without repetition of consonants (as in stony and holy) used as an alternative to rhyme in verse
2
: resemblance of sound in words or syllables
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Other Words from assonance
assonant
\ -nənt
\
adjective or noun
\
adjective or noun
assonantal
\ ˌa-sə-ˈnan-tᵊl
\
adjective
\
adjective
Examples of assonance in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The fairy even hovers over Harbart’s suicide, and a similar lighter touch informs the prose, enlivened by assonance and alliteration. — John Domini, chicagotribune.com, "‘Harbat’: Speaking to the dead, the living — and now Americans, too," 7 Aug. 2019 The fairy even hovers over Harbart’s suicide, and a similar lighter touch informs the prose, enlivened by assonance and alliteration. — John Domini, chicagotribune.com, "‘Harbat’: Speaking to the dead, the living — and now Americans, too," 7 Aug. 2019 The fairy even hovers over Harbart’s suicide, and a similar lighter touch informs the prose, enlivened by assonance and alliteration. — John Domini, chicagotribune.com, "‘Harbat’: Speaking to the dead, the living — and now Americans, too," 7 Aug. 2019 The fairy even hovers over Harbart’s suicide, and a similar lighter touch informs the prose, enlivened by assonance and alliteration. — John Domini, Washington Post, "Decades after the raucous ‘Harbart’ became a cult classic in India, a translation finally arrives," 22 July 2019 This intricate play of rhymes and assonances is reinforced and challenged by the contrasting textures that are so convincingly evoked by Chardin’s dry but sensuous brush marks. — Karen Wilkin, WSJ, "A Scene Beyond Time," 24 Aug. 2018 New poems no longer come to me, with their prodigies of metaphor and assonance. — David Mehegan And Joseph P. Kahn, BostonGlobe.com, "Donald Hall, former US poet laureate known for his ties to New Hampshire, dies at 89," 24 June 2018 Kodak Black is a sleepy-sounding vocalist who swallows his words, a tactic that obscures his enthusiasm for twisty assonance. — Jon Caramanica, New York Times, "Kodak Black’s ‘Lil B.I.G. Pac’ Wrestles With Hard Choices," 22 June 2016These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'assonance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for assonance
assonance
noun
English Language Learners Definition of assonance
technical
: the use of words that have the same or very similar vowel sounds near one another (as in "summer fun" and "rise high in the bright sky")
See the full definition for assonance in the English Language Learners Dictionary