Rhyming is a nightmare. Honestly, if you’re staring at a blank page trying to figure out what rhymes with worth, you’ve probably realized by now that the English language is basically three languages in a trench coat trying to confuse us. It’s a "th" ending. That soft, breathy fricative makes everything difficult. You can’t just throw a "t" on there and call it a day.
Words that rhyme with worth are rare.
It’s not like "cat" or "blue." You don’t have fifty options just sitting there waiting for you. You have a handful of perfect rhymes and then a whole mess of "slant" rhymes that only work if you’ve got a specific accent or you're willing to stretch a vowel until it snaps.
The Core List: Perfect Rhymes for Worth
Let’s get the obvious ones out of the way. If you need a perfect rhyme—meaning the vowel sound and the ending consonant match exactly—your list is short. Very short.
Birth is the heavyweight champion here. It’s the most common rhyme for worth because it hits that "er" sound perfectly before landing on the "th." Whether you’re talking about a literal baby or the "birth" of an idea, it’s the cleanest match you’ll find. Poets have been pairing these two since the Middle Ages because they link value with existence. It makes sense. It’s poetic. It’s also a bit of a cliché, so use it carefully.
Then there’s mirth. This is one of those words people don’t actually say in real life unless they’re writing a Christmas card or a fantasy novel. It means amusement or laughter. If you’re writing a song about a joyful occasion, it’s great. If you’re writing a gritty rap song about the streets, maybe skip it. Nobody says "the streets were full of mirth" unless they’re being incredibly sarcastic.
Girth is the third member of the trio. It refers to the measurement around the middle of something. It’s functional. It’s descriptive. It’s often used for horses (the strap that holds the saddle) or, less flatteringly, for people. It rhymes perfectly, but it carries a certain weight—pun intended—that might not fit your vibe.
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Finally, we have dearth. This word is the "fancy" way of saying there’s a lack of something. "A dearth of options." It’s a sophisticated rhyme for worth. If you want to sound like you’ve read a book recently, this is your go-to.
The Geography Exception: Perth
Don’t forget Perth. It’s a city in Australia. It’s also a city in Scotland. If you happen to be writing about travel or a specific person from Western Australia, you’re in luck. Otherwise, it’s a bit of a reach. But hey, it’s a perfect rhyme, and in the world of worth, we take what we can get.
Why Does Worth Feel So Hard to Rhyme?
Phonetics. That’s the short answer. The "ur" sound followed by the "th" is a specific dental fricative combination that doesn't appear in many English roots. English is built on Germanic, Latin, and French foundations. Many of our "th" words come from Old English, while our "value" words often come from French (like "value" itself).
Worth comes from the Old English weorth. Because it stayed true to its Germanic roots, it didn’t pick up many neighbors along the way. Most English words ending in "th" use different vowels. Think of faith, bath, teeth, moth, truth. None of those help you. You’re stuck in this little "er-th" bubble.
Slant Rhymes: Making It Work When You’re Desperate
If you’re a songwriter or a rapper, perfect rhymes are sometimes boring. They’re predictable. This is where slant rhymes (or "near rhymes") come in. These are words that sound close enough to worth that you can get away with them, especially if you lean into the vowel sound and mumble the ending a bit.
- Earth: This is almost a perfect rhyme. In many dialects, worth and earth are identical in their vowel sound. The only difference is the starting consonant. It’s the most common "near" rhyme and honestly, most people count it as a full rhyme.
- First: This is a stretch. You’re swapping the "th" for an "st." But in a fast-paced verse? It works.
- Search: Similar vowel, different ending. It’s "churchy."
- North: If you have a very specific accent—maybe something from the North of England or a thick Scottish lilt—the "o" in north might start to migrate toward the "u" in worth. For most of us, though, this is a "bridge too far" rhyme.
- Verse: You’re losing the "th" entirely for an "s" sound. It’s weak, but in a pinch, it’s there.
Semantic Connections: Using Worth Without Rhyming
Sometimes the best way to rhyme worth is to not rhyme it at all. If you’re writing and you find yourself stuck, look at the meaning. What are you actually trying to say?
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Are you talking about money? Use words like cost, price, value, gold.
Are you talking about self-esteem? Use words like pride, soul, heart, merit.
If you force a rhyme with mirth just because it’s the only word that fits, your writing will feel cheap. Readers can smell a forced rhyme from a mile away. It’s better to restructure the sentence so worth isn't the line-ender.
Instead of:
I didn't know your total worth,
It brought me very little mirth.
Try:
Your value was a mystery to me,
A debt that I could never clearly see.
See? Much better. You’ve avoided the "mirth" trap entirely.
Practical Advice for Writers and Poets
If you are absolutely committed to keeping worth at the end of your line, you need to build the context around it early. Don’t let the rhyme dictate the story; let the story lead to the rhyme.
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If you use birth, make sure the theme of new beginnings is present earlier in the piece. If you use dearth, establish a tone of scarcity or longing.
- Check your meter. Because worth is a short, punchy, one-syllable word, your rhyme needs to match that energy. Don't try to rhyme it with a three-syllable word unless you're intentionally trying to create a jarring, comedic effect.
- Use internal rhyme. Instead of putting worth at the end, put it in the middle of the line and rhyme it with something else in the same line. "The worth of the earth is in the birth of the spring." It’s repetitive, but it creates a rhythmic, melodic quality that feels intentional rather than desperate.
- Look at "un-words". Sometimes you can find rhymes in compound words. Unearth is a great rhyme for worth. It adds an action—digging, revealing, discovering. It’s much more active than just using "earth" on its own.
The Linguistic Struggle of "TH"
The "th" sound is one of the hardest for non-native speakers to master, and it’s also one of the hardest to rhyme. It’s a "quiet" sound. It doesn't ring out like a "k" or a "p." Because of this, rhymes for worth often feel soft. They trail off. This is great for lullabies or somber poetry, but it’s tough for anthems.
If you look at the work of professional lyricists—people like Stephen Sondheim or even modern pop writers—they rarely end a big, climactic "power note" on a "th" sound. It’s physically hard to belt a "th." You lose all your air.
Moving Beyond the Rhyme
At the end of the day, finding a rhyme for worth is a lesson in the limitations of English. We have a massive vocabulary, but our phonetics are surprisingly restrictive.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Audit your draft: If you’ve used mirth, ask yourself honestly if you only used it because it rhymed. If the answer is yes, delete it.
- Try "Unearth": It’s the most versatile rhyme available. Use it to signify discovery or revealing a truth.
- Flip the sentence: Move worth to the start or middle of the sentence. This opens up your line endings to much easier words like "stay," "go," "light," or "find."
- Use slant rhymes with intent: If you're going to use a word like "first" or "nurse," do it with enough rhythmic confidence that the reader doesn't care that it's not a perfect match. Confidence sells a slant rhyme.
English is a tool, not a cage. Don't let a "th" ending stop you from saying what you actually mean. If the rhyme doesn't exist, change the conversation.