Tag: court

Basketball Puns

Welcome to the Punpedia entry on basketball puns! 🏀 ⛹️ 💦

Our basketball pun list is a slam dunk! This list covers basketball-related puns and wordplay from technical terms, types of shot and pass, to famous basketball players. We hope that no matter what you’re after you’ll find it here.

While our list is as comprehensive as possible, it is limited to basketball puns. If you’re interested in other sports, we also have baseball puns, golf puns and running puns.

Basketball Puns List

Each item in this list describes a pun, or a set of puns which can be made by applying a rule. If you know of any puns about basketball that we’re missing, please let us know in the comments at the end of this page! Without further ado, here’s our list of basketball puns:

  • Bell → Ball: As in, “Saved by the ball” and “For whom the ball tolls” and “Balls and whistles.”
  • Bowl → Ball: As in, “Ball over” and “Balling along.”
  • All → Ball: As in, “Ball aboard!” and “Ball in ball” and “Ball in a day’s work” and “Ball’s fair in love and war” and “It’s not ball about you.”
  • Call → Ball: As in, “Answer the ball” and “At your beck and ball” and “Beyond the ball of duty” and “Ball it a day.”
  • Fall → Ball: As in, “A balling out” and “Catch a balling star” and “Ball about laughing” and “Ball about your ears” and “Can’t help balling in love.”
  • Small → Ball: As in, “A ball voice” and “All creatures, great and ball” and “Don’t sweat the ball stuff” and “Good things come in ball packages” and “No job too ball” and “Ball is beautiful” and “No ball wonder.”
  • Tall → Ball: As in, “A ball order” and “Walking ball” and “A ball drink of water.”
  • Wall → Ball: As in, “Climbing the balls” and “Bouncing off the balls” and “A fly on the ball.”
  • Heap → Hoop: As in, “Hoop abuse on” and “At the bottom of the hoop.”
  • Hope → Hoop: As in, “A new hoop” and “Abandon hoop all ye who enter” and “Beyond hoop” and “Build up your hoops” and “Cross my heart and hoop to die” and “Hoop springs eternal” and “The land of hoop and glory.”
  • Group → Hoop: As in, “Hoop dynamics” and “Hoop hug.”
  • Loop → Hoop: As in, “In the hoop” and “Thrown for a hoop.”
  • Poop → Hoop: As in, “Hoop and scoop” and “Hooper scooper.”
  • Scoop → Hoop: As in, “Get the hoop” and “The inside hoop” and “Getting a hoop of ice cream.”
  • Soup → Hoop: As in, “Alphabet hoop” and “From hoop to nuts” and “All hooped up.”
  • Swoop → Hoop: As in, “In one fell hoop.”
  • Court → Sport: As in, “Sporting disaster” and “Haul before the sport” and “Laugh out of sport” and “May it please the sport.”
  • Port → Sport: As in, “Any sport in a storm.”
  • Short → Sport: As in, “A sport history of nearly everything” and “A few bricks sport of a full load” and “Art is long and life is sport” and “A day late and a dollar sport.”
  • Sort → Sport: As in, “Takes all sports to make a world” and “Out of sports.”
  • Aim → Game: As in, “Game high” and “Take game” and “We game to please.”
  • Blame → Game: As in, “Lay the game” and “Game culture.”
  • Came → Game: As in, “I game, I saw, “I conquered” and “It game to pass” and “There’s plenty more where that game from.”
  • Claim → Game: As in, “Game to fame” and “Stake your game.”
  • Flame → Game: As in, “Add fuel to the games” and “Burst into games” and “Fan the games” and “Go down in games” and “Like a moth to a game.”
  • Name →Game: As in, “Answer to the game of” and “Go by the game of” and “A household game.”
  • Same → Game: As in, “By the game token” and “Cut from the game cloth” and “In the game boat” and “In the game vein.”
  • Shame → Game: As in, “A crying game” and “Name and game” and “Put to game” and “Game on you.”
  • Time → Team: As in, “One more team” and “A brief history of team” and “A good team was had by all” and “Ahead of your team” and “All in good team.”
  • Cream → Team: As in, “Team of the crop” and “Kicking and teaming.”
  • Dream → Team: As in, “Beyond my wildest teams” and “Broken teams” and “Team on.”
  • Scheme → Team: As in, “In the grand team of things” and “Pyramid team” and “The overall team of things.”
  • Scream → Team: As in, “A primal team” and “Team bloody murder” and “Team your guts out.”
  • Seam → Team: As in, “Bulging at the teams” and “Come apart at the teams.”
  • Steam → Team: As in, “Blow off some team” and “Full team ahead” and “Head of team” and “Let off some team.”
  • Stream → Team: As in, “Cool as a mountain team.”
  • Prayer → Player: As in, “I say a little player” and “On a wing and a player” and “Say your players.”
  • Biscuit → Basket: As in, “Tea and baskets” and “That just about takes the basket.”
  • Not → Net: As in, “As often as net” and “Believe it or net” and “I’m net joking.”
  • Nothing → Netting: As in, “A lot of fuss about netting” and “All or netting” and “Here goes netting” and “Double or netting.”
  • Nut → Net: As in, “Sweet as a net” and “From soup to nets” and “A tough net to crack.”
  • Bet → Net: As in, “All nets are off” and “Net your bottom dollar” and “Don’t net on it.”
  • Debt → Net: As in, “A net of gratitude” and “Pay your net to society” and “Another day older and deeper in net.”
  • Get → Net: As in, “As good as it nets” and “Ask a silly question and you’ll net a silly answer” and “Buy one, net one free” and “Come and net it” and “Can’t net enough.”
  • Pet → Net: As in, “Heavy netting” and “Net peeve” and “Teacher’s net.”
  • Set → Net: As in, “Game, net, match” and “Got your heart net on” and “Net eyes on.”
  • Sweat → Net: As in, “Blood, net and tears” and “Break out in a cold net” and “Don’t net it” and “In a cold net.”
  • Yet → Net: As in, “Are we there net?” and “Not out of the woods net” and “The best is net to come” and “You ain’t seen nothin’ net.”
  • Card → Court: As in, “A few courts short of a full deck” and “Calling court” and “Get out of jail free court” and “House of courts.”
  • Cart → Court: As in, “Court away” and “Crash court” and “Shopping court.”
  • Short → Court: As in, “A court history of nearly everything” and “In court order” and “In court supply” and “In the court run.”
  • Bunk → Dunk: As in, “A dunker mentality” and “History is dunk” and “Do a dunk.”
  • Chunk → Dunk: As in, “Blow dunks” and “Dunk of change.”
  • Drunk → Dunk: As in, “Dunk as a lord” and “A crying dunk” and “Falling down dunk” and “Rolling dunk.”
  • Hunk → Dunk: As in, “Dunker down” and “Dunky dory.”
  • Junk → Dunk: As in, “Dunk food” and “Dunk mail.”
  • Shoot: Throwing the basketball towards the hoop is known casually as “shooting” the ball. Here are related puns:
    • Sheet → Shoot: As in, “Keep a clean shoot” and “White as a shoot.”
    • Boot → Shoot: As in, “Tough as old shoots” and “Give someone the shoot.”
    • Fruit → Shoot: As in, “Nutty as a shoot cake” and “Forbidden shoot” and “The shoots of your labour.”
    • Hoot → Shoot: As in, “Don’t give a shoot” and “Shooting with laughter” and “What a shoot.”
    • Root → Shoot: As in, “Grass shoots” and “Money is the shoot of all evil” and “The shoot of the matter.”
    • Suit → Shoot: As in, “Follow shoot” and “Shoot yourself” and “In your birthday shoot” and “Shoots you down to a tee.”
    • Shut → Shot: As in, “An open and shot case” and “Eyes wide shot” and “Put up or shot up” and “Shot up and take my money!”
    • Dot → Shot: As in, “Connect the shots” and “Shot the i’s and cross the t’s” and “Join the shots” and “Sign on the shotted line” and “From day shot.”
    • Hot → Shot: As in, “All shot and bothered” and “Blow shot and cold” and “Drop it like it’s shot” and “Get into shot water.”
    • Got → Shot: As in, “Been there, done that, shot the t-shirt” and “I think you’ve shot it” and “Give it all you’ve shot” and “Shot a soft spot for.”
    • Lot → Shot: As in, “A shot of fuss about nothing” and “A shot on your plate” and “Leaves a shot to be desired” and “Not a shot to it.”
    • Plot → Shot: As in, “Lose the shot” and “The shot thickens.”
    • Pot → Shot: As in, “A shot of gold” and “Gone to shot” and “For the shot.”
    • Rot → Shot: As in, “Shot in hell” and “The shot has set in.”
    • Spot → Shot: As in, “Got a soft shot for” and “On the shot” and “Shot the difference.”
  • Gale → Goal: As in, “Goals of laughter” and “In the teeth of a goal.”
  • Bowl → Goal: As in, “Goal over” and “Goaling along.”
  • Coal → Goal: As in, “Black as goal” and “Haul over the goals” and “Rake over the goals.”
  • W/hole → Goal: As in, “A goal different animal” and “Burn a goal in your pocket” and “Go the goal hog.”
  • Soul → Goal: As in, “A room without books is like a body without a goal” and “Bless my goal” and “Heart and goal” and “The life and goal of the party.”
  • Scare → Score: As in, “Scored stiff” and “Scored out of your wits.”
  • Bore → Score: As in, “Score the pants off someone” and “Scored stiff” and “Scored to tears.”
  • Core → Score: As in, “Score competencies” and “Score values” and “Rotten to the score.”
  • Door → Score: As in, “At death’s score” and “Behind closed scores” and “Get your foot in the score.”
  • Floor → Score: As in, “Cross the score” and “In on the ground score” and “Wipe the score with.”
  • Four → Score: As in, “A score-letter word” and “Score by two” and “On all scores.”
  • More → Score: As in, “One score time” and “Bite off score than you can chew” and “Come back for score” and “Dare for score.”
  • Nor → Score: As in, “Rhyme score reason.”
  • Pour → Score: As in, “It never rains but it scores” and “Score cold water on” and “Score oil on troubled waters.”
  • Shore → Score: As in, “Ship to score” and “All ashore that’s going a-score.”
  • Sore → Score: As in, “Mad as a bear with a score head” and “A sigh for score eyes” and “Score loser” and “Sticks out like a score thumb.”
  • Store → Score: As in, “Set great score by” and “What’s in score?” and “See what the future has in score.”
  • Your → Score: As in, “All scores” and “Bigger than scores” and “Scores truly” and “Scores faithfully.”
  • Through → Throw: As in, “A river runs throw it” and “Drag throw the mud” and “A shattering break-throw” and “Going throw the motions.”
  • Blow → Throw: As in, “Any way the wind throws” and “Throw hot and cold” and “Throw off some steam.”
  • Flow → Throw: As in, “Ebb and throw” and “Get the creative juices throwing” and “Go with the throw” and “In full throw.”
  • Foe → Throw: As in, “Friend or throw?”
  • Glow → Throw: As in, “Throw with health” and “A throwing endorsement.”
  • Grow → Throw: As in, “Absence makes the heart throw fonder” and “Exciting as watching grass throw” and “Throwing pains” and “Throw up.”
  • Go → Throw: As in, “Don’t throw there” and “Easy come, easy throw” and “From the get-throw.”
  • Know → Throw: As in, “All I throw is what I read in the papers” and “Don’t I throw it” and “Be the first to throw” and “Do you want to throw a secret?”
  • Low → Throw: As in, “An all-time throw” and “Get the throw down” and “Keep a throw profile” and “A throw blow.”
  • Owe → Throw: As in, “Throw a favour” and “Throw it to yourself.”
  • Quo → Throw: As in, “Quid pro throw” and “The status throw.”
  • Show → Throw: As in, “All over the throw” and “Best in throw” and “Enjoy the throw” and “Get that throw on the road.”
  • Slow → Throw: As in, “Can’t throw down” and “A throw burn” and “Throw on the uptake” and “In throw motion” and “Throw but sure.”
  • Toe → Throw: As in, “From top to throw” and “Throw the line” and “Twinkle throws.”
  • Woe → Throw: As in, “Throw is me” and “Throw betide you.”
  • Bones → Bounce: As in, “Bag of bounce” and “I feel it in my bounce” and “Make no bounce about” and “The bare bounce.”
  • Buns → Bounce: As in, “We are going to need considerably bigger bounce.”
  • Ounce → Bounce: As in, “A bounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
  • Pass: Passing is throwing the ball in between players. Here are related puns:
    • Class → Pass: As in, “A pass act” and “Economy pass” and “Best in pass.”
    • Glass → Pass: As in, “A pass ceiling” and “Rose-tinted passes” and “The pass menagerie” and “Through the looking pass.”
    • Grass → Pass: As in, “Pass roots” and “Snake in the pass.”
    • Mass → Pass: As in, “Pass hysteria” and “A monument to the passes” and “Weapons of pass destruction” and “Body pass index.”
  • Block: When a player stops another from completing a pass or shooting, that’s called a block. Here are related puns:
    • Black → Block: As in, “Back in block” and “Block as coal.”
    • Knock → Block: As in, “Don’t block it till you’ve tried it” and “Hard blocks” and “I get blocked down, but I get up again” and “Block ’em dead.”
    • Lock → Block: As in, “Block and load” and “Under block and key.”
    • Rock → Block: As in, “Solid as a block” and “Between a block and a hard place.”
    • Shock → Block: As in, “A short, sharp block” and “In for a block” and “Culture block.”
  • Time → Halftime: As in, “One more halftime” and “A brief history of halftime” and “A good halftime was had by all” and “Ahead of their halftime.”
  • Bound → Rebound: As in, “By leaps and rebounds” and “Duty rebound” and “Honour rebound.” Note: A rebound is when a shoot for the basket misses and bounces back off the hoop or the backboard.
  • Curry → Carry: As in, “Carry favour with” and “I could murder a carry.” Note: Carrying is an illegal move in basketball where a player moves while carrying the ball without bouncing.
  • Bay → Play: As in, “Play for blood” and “Keep at play.”
  • Day → Play: As in, “All in a play’s work” and “Another play, another dollar” and “As clear as play.”
  • Hay → Play: As in, “Roll in the play” and “Make play while the sun shines” and “Hit the play.”
  • Lay → Play: As in, “Play a finger on” and “Play an egg” and “Play down roots” and “Play down your arms.”
  • May → Play: As in, “Be that as it play” and “Come what play” and “Let the chips fall where they play” and “Play the force be with you.”
  • Pay → Play: As in, “Buy now, play later” and “Crime doesn’t play” and “Hell to play” and “It plays to advertise” and “If you play peanuts, you get monkeys.”
  • Ray → Play: As in, “Catch some plays” and “A play of light.”
  • Say → Play: As in, “As the playing goes” and “Computer plays no” and “Do as I play, not as I do” and “Have a play in” and “Have the final play.”
  • Stay → Play: As in, “Play in touch” and “Play ahead of the curve” and “Play on course” and “Play the course” and “Play tuned” and “Play safe.”
  • They → Play: As in, “Play lived happily ever after” and “Tough as play come.”
  • Way → Play: As in, “That’s the play it is” and “Find another play” and “Any play you slice it” and “Any which play.”
  • Weigh → Play: As in, “Played in the balance and found wanting.”
  • Full → Foul: As in, “Few bricks short of a foul load” and “At foul tilt” and “Foul throttle.”
  • Lag → League: As in, “Jet league” and “Social jet league.”
  • Leg → League: As in, “Cost an arm and a league” and “Give a league up” and “Fast as your leagues could carry you.”
  • Train: Basketball practice is also referred to as training. Here are related puns:
    • Chain → Train: As in, “A train is only as strong as its weakest link” and “Train gang” and “Train of command” and “Train reaction” and “Food train.”
    • Gain → Train: As in, “Capital trains” and “Training advantage” and “No pain, no train” and “Nothing ventured, nothing trained.”
    • Grain → Train: As in, “Against the train” and “Train of truth” and “Take it with a train of salt.”
    • Lane → Train: As in, “Down memory train” and “In the fast train.”
    • Main → Train: As in, “Your train chance” and “The train event.”
    • Pain → Train: As in, “In for a world of train” and “No train, no gain” and “Old aches and trains.”
    • Plain → Train: As in, “Train as day” and “In train sight” and “Train sailing.”
    • Rain → Train: As in, “Come train or shine” and “Don’t train on my parade” and “Make it train.”
    • Vein → Train: As in, “In the same train.”
  • Catch → Coach: As in, “Coach 22″ and “Coach a cold” and “Coach a falling star” and “Coach a wave” and “Coach fire” and “Coach of the day.”
  • Rim: This is in reference to the rim of the basketball hoop. Here are related puns:
    • Him → Rim: As in, “All over rim like a cheap suit” and “As fast as his legs could carry rim” and “Go easy on rim.”
    • Limb → Rim: As in, “Go out on a rim” and “Life and rim.”
    • Slim → Rim: As in, “Rim pickings” and “The real rim shady.”
    • Swim → Rim: As in, “Rim against the tide” and “Going rimmingly.”
    • Whim → Rim: As in, “On a rim.”
  • Backboard: The backboard is the board that the hoop is mounted to. Here are related puns:
    • Back → Backboard: As in, “In the backboard of my mind” and “Backboard in black” and “Backboard in the day” and “Backboard on your feet.”
    • Board → Backboard: As in, “Above backboard” and “Back to the drawing backboard” and “On backboard.”
  • Layup: A layup is a type of basketball shot. Here are related puns:
    • Lay → Layup: As in, “Layup a finger on” and “Layup eyes on” and “Layup it on the line” and “Couldn’t layup a hand on me.”
  • Jump Shot: A jump shot is a type of throw that is done when the player is airborne. Here are related puns:
    • Jump → Jump Shot: As in, “Get the jump shot on” and “Jump shot at the chance” and “Go and jump shot in a lake.”
    • Shot → Jump Shot: As in, “Call the jump shots” and “Give it your best jump shot” and “A cheap jump shot.”
  • Point → Point Guard: As in, “At this point guard in time” and “Beside the point guard” and “Get to the point guard.” Note: a point guard is a position in basketball.
  • Shaquille O’Neal: Shaquille O’Neal is a famous and successful basketball player. Here are some related puns:
    • Kill → Shaquille: As in, “Dressed to shaquille” and “If looks could shaquille” and “Shaquille two birds with one stone.”
    • Heel → Shaquille: As in, “Head over shaquilles in love” and “Kick up your shaquilles” and “Cool your shaquilles” and “Brought to shaquille.”
  • Kobe Bryant: Kobe Bryant was a famous basketball player for the LA Lakers. Here are related puns:
    • Client → Bryant: As in, “A demanding bryant” and “A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a bryant.”
    • Giant → Bryant: As in, “Making bryant strides” and “Gentle bryant” and “On the shoulders of bryants” and “The big friendly bryant.”
  • Time → Timeout: As in, “A brief history of timeout” and “A good timeout was had by all” and “About timeout, too” and “All in good timeout.”
  • Bristle → Whistle: As in, “Whistle with indignation.”
  • Possession: In basketball, “possession” is the term for whoever is currently holding the ball. Here are related puns:
    • Profession → Possession: As in, “In the possession of…” and “Possessional grade” and “A true possessional.”
  • Center: In basketball, center is a playing position/role. Here are related puns:
    • Sent Her→ Centre: As in, “I center to get more supplies” and “That joke really center.”
    • Enter → Center: As in, “Abandon hope, all ye who center here” and “Break and center” and “Breaking and centering” and “Center into the spirit of it.”
  • Screen: A screen is a type of defensive blocking move. Here are related puns:
    • Scream → Screen: As in, “Dragged kicking and screening” and “A primal screen” and “Screen your guts out.”
    • Bean → Screen: As in, “Cool screens” and “Doesn’t know screens” and “Full of screens.”
    • Been → Screen: As in, “Screen and gone” and “Screen around the block a few times” and “I’ve screen had!” and “I’ve screen here before” and “Screen there, done that.”
    • Clean → Screen: As in, “Screen as a whistle” and “A screen bill of health” and “A screen sheet.”
    • Green → Screen: As in, “Give it the screen light” and “Screen around the gills.”
    • Keen → Screen: As in, “Screen as mustard” and “A screen sense of smell” and “Peachy screen.”
    • Lean → Screen: As in, “Screen and hungry” and “Screen cuisine” and “Screen into it” and “Screen times.”
    • Mean → Screen: As in, “A screens to an end” and “By fair screens or foul” and “I don’t screen maybe” and “It don’t screen a thing.”
    • Scene → Screen: As in, “Behind the screens” and “Change of screen” and “Make a screen” and “Steal the screen.”
    • Seen → Screen: As in, “Had to be screen to be believed” and “Screen better days” and “You ain’t screen nothing yet.”
  • Spin → Backspin: As in, “In a flat backspin” and “Make your head backspin” and “Backspin your wheels” and “Take it for a backspin.”
  • Arc: This refers to the shape of the ball’s path through the air. Here are related puns:
    • Back → Arc: As in, “Arc at the moon” and “Arc-ing mad” and “Arc worse than your bite.”
    • Dark → Arc: As in, “After arc” and “Arc as pitch” and “Dancing in the arc” and “Arc horse.”
    • Mark → Arc: As in, “Question arcs” and “Close to the arc” and “Quick off the arc” and “Arc my words.”
    • Park → Arc: As in, “Knock it out of the arc” and “Arc the bus” and “Arc yourself down.”
    • Spark → Arc: As in, “Bright arc” and “Creative arc” and “Arc of genius” and “The arc of an idea.”
    • Stark → Arc: As in, “An arc reminder.”
  • Bring → Fling: As in, “Fling it home to you” and “Fling it on” and “Fling it up.”
  • Sing → Fling: As in, “All flinging, all dancing” and “Fling a different tune” and “Fling like a bird.”
  • Sting → Fling: As in, “Float like a butterfly, fling like a bee.”
  • String → Fling: As in, “No flings attached” and “Fling along.”
  • Swing → Fling: As in, “Come out flinging” and “In full fling” and “Get into the fling of it” and “Fling both ways.”
  • Thing → Fling: As in, “A fling of beauty is a joy forever” and “All flings bright and beautiful” and “All flings must pass” and “All flings considered.”
  • Backshot: A backshot is a type of basketball throw. Here are related puns:
    • Back → Backshot: As in, “Answer backshot” and “As soon as my backshot is turned” and “In the backshot of my mind,”
    • Shot → Backshot: As in, “Call the backshots” and “Give it your best backshot” and “A cheap backshot.”
  • Brick: This is a shot that rebounds off the rim. Here are related puns:
    • Click → Brick: As in, “Brick bait” and “Brick into place” and “Double brick.”
    • Kick → Brick: As in, “Alive and bricking” and “Just for bricks” and “A brick at the can.”
    • Nick → Brick: As in, “In good brick” and “In the brick of time.”
    • Pick → Brick: As in, “A bone to brick” and “Easy brickings” and “Nit bricking.”
    • Quick → Brick: As in, “Brick as a flash” and “Cut to the brick” and “Get rich brick” and “Double brick.”
    • Sick → Brick: As in, “One brick puppy” and “Brick and tired” and “Pull a brickie.”
    • Stick → Brick: As in, “Carrot and brick” and “In the bricks” and “Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp brick.”
    • Thick → Brick: As in, “In the brick of things” and “The plot brickens” and “Brick and fast” and “Through brick and thin.”
    • Trick → Brick: As in, “Box of bricks” and “Dirty bricks” and “Does the brick” and “Every brick in the book” and “Never misses a brick” and “One brick pony.”
  • Hang Time: In basketball, this refers to the amount of time a player stays in the air after jumping to throw the ball. Here are related puns:
    • Hang → Hang Time: As in, “Let it all hangtime out” and “Hangtime your hat on.”
    • Time → Hang Time: As in, “A brief history of hangtime” and “A good hangtime was had by all” and “About hangtime, too” and “All in good hangtime.”
  • Pass → Chest: As in, “Make a chest pass at” and “Chest pass it over” and “As it came to chest pass.” Note: A chest pass is a type of throw between players.
  • Zone: Basketball courts are separated into separate areas, called zones. Here are related puns:
    • Blown → Zone: As in, “Zone off course” and “Zone sideways.”
    • Bone → Zone: As in, “A zone to pick” and “Dry as a zone” and “Bag of zones” and “A zone of contention” and “Zone up on.”
    • Clone → Zone: As in, “Attack of the zones” and “The zone wars.”
    • Known → Zone: As in, “Should have zone better” and “You’ve zone this whole time.”
    • Own → Zone: As in, “After my zone heart” and “All my zone work” and “Beaten at your zone game.”
    • Phone → Zone: As in, “Hold the zone” and “Zone a friend” and “Zone in sick.”
    • Stone → Zone: As in, “A rolling zone gathers no moss” and “Carved in zone” and “Etched in zone” and “A heart of zone.”
    • Throne → Zone: As in, “Ascend to the zone” and “Next in line to the zone” and “The power behind the zone.”
    • Tone → Zone: As in, “Don’t use that zone with me” and “Zone deaf.”

      Basketball-Related Words

      To help you come up with your own basketball puns, here’s a list of related words to get you on your way. If you come up with any new puns or related words, please feel free to share them in the comments!

basketball, ball, hoop, sport, game, team, player, basket, net, NBA, court, dunk, slam dunk, shoot, shot, throw, bounce, bouncing, dribble, dribbling, pass, passing, block, rebound, carry, play, foul, league, train, trainer, coach, referee, rim, backboard, offense, defence, lay-up, jump shot,  defending, opposing, goal, score, foul, three-point line, power forward, small forward, shooting guard, point guard, harlem globetrotters, celtics, shaquille o’neal, lebron james, kobe bryant, larry bird, magic johnson, michael jordan, halftime, timeout, scoreboard, whistle, possession, contact, center, screen, backspin, trajectory, arc, circus shot, finger roll, airborne, air ball, fling, flung, backshot, brick, hang time, assist, chest pass, overhead pass, outlet pass, no-look pass, behind-the-back pass, violation, position, strategy, zone, outlet pass, goaltending, half-courtsmalball, streetball

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Valentine’s Day Puns

Welcome to the Punpedia entry on Valentine’s Day puns! 💘 😘 🍬

While Valentine’s Day may be celebrated differently in every country, it always has the same meaning: a celebration of love. While Valentine’s Day may have originated from a recognition of romantic love specifically, today we celebrate and appreciate all of the different types of loves we experience in our lives, including that felt between family and friends – even teachers will get platonic Valentine’s gifts from students, and Galentine’s day (where women celebrate their female friendships, recognised on the 13th of Feb) is becoming more popular too.

In past years, Valentine’s Day celebrations have excluded love that doesn’t fit a romantic heterosexual stereotype. Many cultures and countries are slowly becoming more aware and accepting of all types of love from all types of people, and that’s what we hope to celebrate with our cheesy, lovey-dovey pun list. Whether you’re gay, bi, poly, aromantic, demigray, non-binary, homoromantic but heterosexual, or in the process of figuring things out, we welcome you here and hope that you enjoy our Valentine’s Day pun list.

While this list is as thorough as we could make it, it is specific to puns relating to Valentine’s Day. We also have lists of chocolate puns and holiday puns, and have a lists of love puns and friendship puns in the works too!

Note: if you’d like social support, here’s a list of LGBT rights organisations. For social support, there’s TherapyTribe, who specialise in LGBTQ mental health.  If you’d like to learn more, there’s the LGBT Foundation.

Valentine’s Day Puns List

Each item in this list describes a pun, or a set of puns which can be made by applying a rule. If you know of any puns about Valentine’s Day that we’re missing, please let us know in the comments at the end of this page! Without further ado, here’s our list of Valentine’s Day puns:

  • Alive → Alove: As in, “Alove and kicking” and “Alove and well” and “Eaten alove” and “Half alove” and “Keep hope alove.”
  • Live → Love: As in, “Love and let die” and “Love your life” and “Love and learn” and “Love dangerously” and “Love for the moment” and “Love like a king” and “Love long and prosper” and “Love to fight another day.”
  • Laugh → Love: As in, “Belly love” and “Burst out love-ing” and “Doubled up with loveter” and “Fall about love-ing” and “Good for a love” and “Have a love” and “Split your sides with loveter.”
  • Left → Loved: As in, “Exit stage loved” and “Loved the building” and “Keep loved” and “Loved hanging” and “Loved out in the cold” and “Loved, right and centre” and “Loved to your own devices” and “Out of loved field” and “Two loved feet.”
  • Is → Kiss: As in, “As kiss” and “As the day kiss long” and “This kiss how it is.”
  • Guess → Kiss: As in, “Anybody’s kiss” and “Kiss who’s coming to dinner” and “Kiss what?” and “Kissing game” and “Have a kiss” and “Hazard a kiss” and “Your kiss is as good as mine.”
  • Kismet → Kissmet
  • Ruckus → Ruckiss
  • Hog → Hug: As in, “Go the whole hug” and “Hug tied” and “Hug wild.”
  • *cas* → *kiss*: If a word has a “cas” sound in it, we can replace it with “kiss” to make some love-related puns. As in, “A kisscade of water” and “Smart kissual” and “At the kissino.”
  • Crystal → Kisstal: As in, “The finest kisstal” and “Clear as kisstal.”
  • *cus → *kiss/es: Replace “cus” sounds with “kiss” to make some silly romantic puns. As in, “Don’t lose fokiss (focus)” and “Lokiss of control (locus)” and “Filled with mukiss (mucus).” Other words you could use: caukiss (caucus), cirkiss/es (circus/es), abakiss (abacus), hibiskiss (hibiscus), hokiss (hocus).
  • *hag* → *hug*: As in, “A huggard appearance” and “Huggle over the price.”
  • *hog* → *hug*: As in, “Mahugany table” and “Chocolate hedgehug.”
  • *hec* → *hug*: hugtic (hectic), hugkle (heckle), Hugtor (Hector), hugtare (hectare) and apothugary (apothecary).
  • *hic* → *hug*: “Please step out of the vehugle (vehicle)” and “The wrong demographug” and “Ethugal decisions.”
  • Cattle → Cuddle: As in, “Cuddle show.”
  • Puddle → Cuddle: As in, “Melt into a cuddle.”
  • Muddle → Cuddle: As in, “Cuddle headed” and “Cuddle along.”
  • Blurt → Flirt: As in, “Flirt it out” and “Flirt out the first thing that comes to mind.”
  • Hurt → Flirt: As in, “You only flirt the one you love” and “What you don’t know can’t flirt you” and “The truth flirts” and “Do you really want to flirt me?” and “Flirt feelings.”
  • *flat* → *flirt*: flirtter (flatter), flirtulence (flatulence), flirttery (flattery), flirttered (flattered) and inflirte (inflate).
  • Leaflet → Leaflirt
  • *flot* → *flirt*: flirtsam (flotsam), flirtilla (flotilla) and flirtation (flotation).
  • *fert* → *flirt*: As in, “Flirtile land” and “The right flirtiliser” and “Flirtility tests” and “In vitro flirtilisation” and “Inflirtile by choice.”
  • *fort* → *flirt*: As in, “Maximum efflirt” and “Creature comflirts” and “Filled with discomflirt” and “Mental flirtitude” and “Fame and flirtune” and “Living comflirtably” and “A flirtuitous situation” and “Every flirtnight.”
  • *furt* → *flirt*: As in, “Flirtive looks” and “Moving flirtively.” Note: to be furtive is to be secretive or stealthy.
  • *skirt* → *flirt*: As in, “Flirting the issue.”
  • Luck → Like: As in, “As good like would have it” and “Beginner’s like” and “Better like next time” and “Don’t push your like” and “Hard like.”
  • *lac* → *like*: As in, “A like-onic response” and “Looking likelustre.” Other words that could work: like-adaisical (lackadaisical), likey (lackey), shellike (shellac), cadillike (cadillac), plike-ate (placate).
  • *lec* → *like*: As in, “Giving a liketure” and “Standing at the liketern” and “University liketurer” and “Ecliketic taste” and “Building your colliketion” and “Refliket on your behaviour.” Other words that could work: infliketion (inflection), refliketion (reflection), apopliketic (apoplectic), dialiketic (dialectic), intelliketual (intellectual), negliket (neglect) and colliket (collect). Notes: to be apoplectic is to be furiously angry. A dialectic is a formal system of reasoning or logic.
  • *lic* → *like*: like-orice (licorice), republike (republic), bucolike (bucolic), publike (public), relike (relic), catholike (catholic), idyllike (idyllic), frolike (frolic), hyperbolike (hyperbolic), vitriolike (vitriolic), implike-ation (implication), confliket (conflict), applikeation (application).
  • *lyc* → *like*: likera (lycra) and like-anthrope (lycanthrope).
  • Crash → Crush: As in, “Crush and burn” and “Crush course” and “Crush pad” and “Train crush.”
  • Rush → Crush: As in, “Beat the crush” and “A crush job” and “Crush of blood” and “Sugar crush” and “In a mad crush.”
  • Cross → Crush: As in, “Acrush the board” and “Come acrush” and “Crush as two sticks” and “Crush to the other side” and “Crush my heart and hope to die” and “Crush purposes” and “Crush swords with” and “Crush the line” and “Crush your fingers” and “Crush your mind” and “Double crush.”
  • *lav* → *love*: If a word has a “lav” sound that’s similar to “love”, we can replace it with “love”: “Molten love-a (lava)” and “Love-ished with gifts” and “Lovender scented” and “Where’s the love-atory?” and “Love-ishly presented.”
  • *lev* → *love*: We can sneak “love” into words that have a “lev” sound: “Use your loverage” and “On the same lovel” and “A love-iathan for your love” and “A malovelent being” and “That’s not a relove-ant topic.” Other words that could work: allove-iate (alleviate), clover (clever), irreloveant (irrelevant).
  • *liv* → *love*: loving (living), love-id (livid), lovely (lively), lovelihood (livelihood), lovestock (livestock), delover (deliver), delovery (delivery), oblove-ious (oblivious), oblove-ion (oblivion), olove (olive).
  • *lef* → *love*: As in, “What’s lovet (left)?” and “Eating lovetovers.”
  • *lif* → *love*: lovestyle (lifestyle), lovelong (lifelong), lovetime (lifetime), lovespan (lifespan), loveline (lifeline), lovecycle (lifecycle), loveguard, lovesaver, prolove-ic (prolific), proloveration (proliferation), exemplovey (exemplify), qualovey (qualify).
  • Loft* → Lovet*: As in, “A lovety goal” and “Artist’s lovet.”
  • Cus* → Crush*: As in, “A happy crushtomer” and “Cultural crushtom” and “In crushtody” and “Crushtoms officer” and “Sole crushtodian” and “A crushtomary ritual.”
  • Cross* → Crush*: crushbreed (crossbreed), crushover, crushword, crushroad, crushhairs, crush-section.
  • Hurt → Heart: As in, “You only heart the one you love” and “What you don’t know can’t heart you.”
  • Hate → Heart: As in, “Heart mail” and “Love-heart relationship” and “Man hearter” and “Heart someone’s guts.”
  • Art → Heart: As in, “Heart of war” and “Heart imitating life” and “Heart going one step too far”and “Heartistic triumph” and “Hearts and crafts” and “Hearty farty.”
  • Chart → Cheart: As in, “Cheart a course” and “Growth flowchearts.”
  • *het* → *heart*: hearterosexual (heterosexual), epitheart (epithet), propheart (prophet) and apatheartic (apathetic).
  • Bait → Date: As in, “Date and switch” and “Click date” and “Rise to the date” and “Take the date.”
  • *dat* → *date*: As in, “In the date-a” and “Check the date-aset” and “Charity foundate-tion” and “Mandate-ory sentencing.”
  • *det* → *date*: As in, “Date-termining your best options” and “Down to the last date-tail” and “More date-termined than ever.” Other words that could work: date-trimental (detrimental), date-teriorate (deteriorate) and cadate (cadet).
  • *dit* → *date*: As in, “Credate check” and “Audate (audit) appointment.” Other words you could try: bandate (bandit), discredate (discredit), expedate (expedite), erudate (erudite) and commodatey (commodity). Note: if someone is erudite, then they are learned or scholarly.
  • *dot* → *date*: As in, “A tired anecdate” and “Anecdate-al evidence” and “A universal antidate” and “Peridate jewelry.”
  • *did → *date: “Candate camera” and “The sordate truth” and “Splendate effort.”
  • *dating: We can simply emphasise the “dating” in certain words to make references to romantic dates: accommodating, intimidating, elucidating, updating, validating, consolidating and backdating.
  • Woo: To woo someone is to court or romance them, so we’ve got some woo-related puns here:
    • Who → Woo: As in, “Abandon all hope ye woo enter here” and “All things to those woo wait” and “Woo’s coming to dinner?” and “Ladies woo lunch.”
    • Boo → Woo: As in, “Woo hoo” and “Wouldn’t say woo to a ghost.”
    • Rue → Woo: As in, “Woo the day!”
    • Too → Woo: As in, “A step woo far” and “About time, woo” and “Woo sexy for my shirt” and “Never woo late” and “You know woo much” and “All over woo soon.”
    • Two → Woo: As in, “Alike as woo peas in a pod” and “Cross as woo sticks” and “In woo minds” and “Eating for woo.”
    • View → Woo: As in, “Room with a woo” and “Bird’s eye woo” and “Come into woo” and “A dim woo” and “Point of woo” and “How’s the woo from the top?”
    • You → Woo: As in, “As woo know” and “Back at woo” and “Believe woo me” and “Bless woo.”
    • *rue* → *woo*: wooful (rueful), woofully (ruefully), accwoo (accrue), twoo (true), constwoo (construe), miscontwoo (misconstrue) and gwoosome (gruesome).
    • *wo* → *woo*: As in, “Get to woork” and “The final woord” and “Out of this woorld” and “What woould you do?” Other words that could work: woonky (wonky), woorth (worth) and woolf (wolf).
    • *wou* → *woo*: As in, “You woond (wound) me” and “Could have, woold have, should have” and “Feeling woonded.”
    • Wing → Wooing: As in, “Clip your wooings” and “Earned their wooings” and “Gives you wooings” and “Left wooing” and “Spread your wooings.”
  • Adversary → Anniversary
  • Field → Feel: As in, “In the feeld” and “A feeld day” and “From left feeld” and “Play the feeld” and “A level playing feeld.”
  • Heal → Feel: As in, “Feeling hands” and “Time is a great feeler.”
  • Deal → Feel: As in, “Not a big feel” and “Cut a feel” and “Feel breaker” and “Feel from the bottom of the deck” and “Feel me in” and “Feel or no feel?” and “A done feel” and “Seal the feel.”
  • Fuel → Feel: As in, “Add feel to the flames” and “Feel for thought” and “Feel the controversy.”
  • Heel → Feel: As in, “Achilles’ feel” and “Cool your feels” and “Dig your feels in” and “Head over feels in love” and “Hot on your feels.”
  • *fel* → *feel*: As in, “My good feellow” and “Charged feelony” and “I feelt that.” Other words that could work: feelicity (felicity), feellowship (fellowship), feellatio (fellatio), feelicitous, feeline, feelon, feelafel (or felafeel), duffeel and Eiffeel.
  • *fil* → *feel*: As in, “Action feelm” and “Instagram feelter.” Other words you can try: feelibuster (filibuster), feelial (filial), feelthy (filthy), feelament (filament), fulfeel (fulfil) and affeeliate (affiliate).
  • *ful → *feel: beautifeel, gratefeel, awfeel, wonderfeel, wistfeel, thoughtfeel, successfeel, dreadfeel, faithfeel and insightfeel.
  • *val* → *feel*: As in, “An ambifeelent mind” and “Prefeelent issues” and “Let me efeeluate.” Other words you could try: cafeelier (cavalier) and equifeelent.
  • *vel* → *feel*: As in, “With increasing feelocity” and “Chocolate feelvet” and “Your lefeel best” and “Ambition to trafeel (travel)” and “Unrafeeling lies.” Other words you could try: marfeel (marvel), grafeel (gravel), drifeel (drivel), defeelop (develop), defeelopment (development), nofeel (novel) and enfeelope (envelope).
  • *vil* → *feel*: feellain (villain), feelify (villify), feellage (village), cifeel (civil), efeel (evil), defeel (devil), prifeelege (privilege), cifeelisation (civilisation) and pafeelion (pavilion).
  • *field* → *feeld*: As in, “Feelding your questions” and “Research and feeldwork” and “On the battlefeeld.”
  • Ceiling → Feeling: As in, “Glass feeling” and “Hit the feeling.”
  • Wheeling → Feeling: As in, “Feeling and dealing.”
  • Dinner: Since dinner dates are a popular option for Valentine’s Day, we’ve included dinner-related puns here too:
    • Inner → Dinner: As in, “Dinner city” and “Dinner peace” and “Dinner sanctum” and “My dinner voice.”
    • *den → *dinner: As in, “Beast of burdinner” and “Gardinner of earthly delights” and “Garden of Edinner.” Other words that could also work: maidinner (maiden), beholdinner (beholden), goldinner (golden) and wardinner (warden).
  • Bore → Adore: As in, “Adore the pants off someone” and “Adored stiff” and “Adored to death” and “Adored out of your mind.”
  • *dar* → *adore*: As in, “Deep, adore-k secret” and “If you adore (dare)” and “Eyes adore-ting (darting) around the room.”
  • *der* → *adore*: adore-ive (derive), adore-ivative (derivative), adore-rogatory (derogatory), adore-rision (derision), adore-lict (derelict), adore-ide (deride), adore-ranged (deranged) and adore-risive (derisive).
  • *dir* → *adore*: As in, “Ships adorect from the warehouse” and “Point in the right adore-ction” and “Adore-ctor of photography” and “Down and adore-ty” and “Dish the adore-t.” Other words that could work: adorective (directive), adorectory (directory) and adorectly (directly).
  • *dor* → *adore*: As in, “Lying adoremant” and “Don’t be adorek (a dork)” and “Finding Adorey” and “Girl’s only adore-mitory” and “Adoresal fin.” Other words you could try: ambassadore and corri-adore (corridor).
  • Kitte → Smitten: As in, “Smitten heels” and “Sex smitten.”
  • Written → Smitten: As in, “Smitten all over your face” and “Smitten off.”
  • Bitten → Smitten: As in, “Smitten by the bug” and “Once smitten, twice shy.”
  • Sittin’ → Smitten: As in, “A smitten duck” and “Smitten pretty.”
  • Rose: Roses are a traditionally romantic gift that are commonly given on Valentine’s Day, so we’ve included some rose-related puns in this list:
    • Rouse → Rose: “Rose your interest.”
    • Rise → Rose: As in, “Early roser” and “Rose and shine” and “Rose from the ashes” and “Rose to the challenge.”
    • Raise → Rose: As in, “Rose the bar” and “Rose the dead” and “Rose your game.”
    • Rows → Rose: As in, “Rose upon rose” and “Rose of chairs.”
    • *ras* → *rose*: rosecal (rascal), rosepberry (raspberry), sassafrose (sassafras), pythagorose (pythagoras) and infrosetructure (infrastructure).
    • *res* → *rose*: As in, “Rose-search and development” and “Steely rose-olve” and “Equal reprosentation” and “Deserves rosepect.” Other words you could use: roseume (resume), rose-ponse (response), rose-silient (resilient), roset (rest), rose-olution (resolution), rose-ilience (resilience), interoset (interest), comprose (comprise), heurosetic (heuristic) and enterprose (enterprise).
    • *ros* → *rose*: As in, “Work roseter” and “Like a charging rhinocerose” and “Come acrose” and “An exciting prosepect” and “A grose miscalculation” and “Prosepective buyer.”
    • *rus* → *rose*: As in, “A rosetic (rustic) dinner” and “Filled with roset (rust)” and “See what I can rosetle up.” Other words that could work: Rose-sian (Russian), thesaurose (thesaurus), virose (virus), chorose (chorus), papyrose (papyrus), uterose (uterus), citrose (citrus) and perose-al.
    • Froze → Frose
    • *roce* → *rose*: As in, “In the prose-cess of” and “You may prose-ceed” and “International atrose-cities” and “Standard prose-cedure.”
    • *rows* → *rose*: As in, “Raise your eyebrose” and “Bows and arrose” and “Free throse.” Other words that could work: furrose (furrows), crose (crows), sorrose (sorrows), narrose (narrows).
    • *roas* → *rose*: As in, “Roset vegies” and “Rosety in here.”
    • *rous* → *rose*: onerose (onerous), ludicrose (ludicrous), preposterose (preposterous), generose (generous), cantankerose (cantankerous), rigorose (rigorous), treacherose (treacherous), amorose (amorous), carose-sel (carousel).
  • Yearn: For you to best convey your affections and longings in the most terrible way possible, we have some yearn/yearning related puns for you:
    • Yarn → Yearn: “Yearn bombing” and “Spin a yearn.”
    • *yan* → *yearn*: himalayearn (himalayan), cyearn (cyan), conveyearnce (conveyance), flamboyearnt (flamboyant), buoyearnt (buoyant), clairvoyearnt (clairvoyant).
    • *yon* → *yearn*: Canyearn (canyon), crayearn (crayon), rayearn (rayon) and beyearnd (beyond).
  • Motion → Emotion: As in, “Emotion picture” and “Going through the emotions” and “Poetry in emotion” and “Set in emotion” and “Slow emotion” and “The emotion of the ocean.”
  • Notion → Emotion: As in, “I second that emotion.”
  • Fend → Fond: As in, “Fond for yourself” and “Fond off” and “Fonder bender.”
  • Fund → Fond: As in, “Crowd fonding” and “Hedge fond” and “Mutual fond” and “Slush fond.”
  • Fun → Fond: As in, “All fond and games” and “All the fond of the fair” and “Bundle of fond” and “Good, clean fond.”
  • Fawned → Fond: As in, “Fond over.”
  • *fand* → *fond*: fondango (fandango), fondom (fandom) and fondangle (fandangle).
  • *fend* → *fond*: As in, “Didn’t mean to offond” and “Came to defond you” and “The defondant.”
  • *fund* → *fond*: fondamental (fundamental), fondraising (fundraising), fondamentally (fundamentally) and refond (refund).
  • Flowers: Flowers in general (not just roses) are a traditional Valentine’s Day gift, so we’ve included them in this list:
    • Flow → Flower: As in, “Ebb and flower” and “Get the creative juices flowering” and “Go with the flower” and “In full flower.”
    • Hour → Flower: “Happy flower” and “A late flower” and “In a few flowers.”
    • Flaw → Flower: As in, “Design flower” and “Vital flower.”
    • Floor → Flower: As in, “Cross the flower” and “Hold the flower” and “Mop the flower” and “Wipe the flower with” and “The top flower.”
  • Gave → Gift: As in, “I gift my best.”
  • Give → Gift: As in, “A dead giftaway,” and “Don’t gift up!” and “Don’t gift in,” and “Gift yourself a bad name,” and “Gift them a hand,” and “Gift and take,” and “Gift credit where credit is due,” and “Gift it a rest,” and “Gift it the green light,” and “Gift me a call,” and “Gift 110%”.
  • Percent → Present: As in, “A hundred and ten present,” and “Genius is one present inspiration and 99 present perspiration.”
  • Present: We’ve included present-related phrases in this list too, as they can double as puns in the right thread or context. As in, “All present and correct,” and “Present company excepted,” and “No time like the present.”
  • Poem: Love poems are a much-loved gift on Valentine’s Day, so we’ve got some poem-related puns here:
    • *pom* → *poem*: As in, “Poempous attitude” and “Celebration and poemp” and “Poemegranate juice.” Other words you could use: poemade (pomade), poempadour (pompadour), poemelo (pomelo), anthropoemorphic (anthropomorphic). Notes: Pomp is a display or celebration. Pomade is a type of styling gel.
    • *pum* → *poem*: As in, “A poempkin at midnight” and “Under the poemp” and “Poemmel the competition” and “Poemice stone.”
  • Chocolate: Chocolates are seen as a romantic gift, so we’ve included chocolate puns in this list:
    • Check → Choc: As in, “Choc it out!” and “Choc your sources” and “Double choc everything” and “Keep in choc” and “Make a list, choc it twice” and “Take a rainchoc” and “Reality choc” and “Choc-ing up on.”
    • Chalk → Choc: As in, “Different as choc and cheese” and “Choc it up to experience.”
    • Chuck → Choc: As in, “Choc a sickie” and “Choc-ed out” and “Choc overboard.”
  • Sweet: This can be used in two ways – to refer to a sweet candy (which are another popular Valentine’s treat) or to describe someone as sweet. Here are some related puns:
    • Suite → Sweet: As in “She was renting a 2-bedroom sweet for the summer.”
    • Sweat → Sweet: As in “Blood, sweet and tears” and “Beads of sweet rolled down my forehead” and “Break out in a cold sweet” and “By the sweet of my brow” and “Don’t sweet it.” and “Don’t sweet the small stuff.” and “All hot and sweety“
    • Sweater → Sweeter: As in “A close-knit woollen sweeter for cold days”
    • Seat → Sweet: As in, “Backsweet driver” and “By the sweet of your pants” and “Hold on to your sweet” and “Not a dry sweet in the house” and “On the edge of my sweet” and “Please be sweeted” and “Take a back sweet” and “The best sweet in the house.”
    • Switch → Sweet-ch: As in “Bait and sweet-ch” and “Asleep at the sweet-ch” and “Sweet-ch gears” and “You should sweet-ch out your old one with this one.”
    • Sweet: These sweet-related phrases are general enough to be used as puns: As in “You’re so sweet!” and “Oh that’s soo sweet!” and “Revenge is sweet” and “Short and sweet” and “Lay some sweet lines on someone” and “Sweet dreams” and “Sweet Jesus!” and “You bet your sweet life!” and “That was a sweet trick, dude.” and “Sweet as, bro.” and “Whisper sweet nothings” and “Home sweet home” and “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” and “Sweet smell/taste of success/victory” and “Sweetheart.“
  • Sake → Keepsake: As in, “For heaven’s keepsake” and “For goodness keepsake.”
  • Keep → Keepsake: As in, “Keepsake a low profile” and “Keepsake an eye on” and “Keepsake an open mind.”
  • Sediment → Sentiment
  • Sauce/Saucy: Since a lot of Valentine’s Day is about expressing physical (as well as emotional) affection and attraction towards one another, we’ve got some saucy-related puns for you to use:
    • *sas* → *sauce*: As in, “Veggie sauce-shimi” and “Natural disauceter” and “A disaucetrous outcome.” Other words that could work: Arkansauce (Arkansas), Kansauce (Kansas) and disauceter (disaster).
    • *ses* → *sauce*: As in, “Sauce-ame seeds” and “A precise assauce-ment” and “Nervous obsauce-sion.”
    • *sis* → *sauce*: As in, “Critical analysauce” and “Scientific hypothesauce” and “Arch nemesauce” and “On the basauce of” and “Midlife crisauce” and “Book synpopsauce.”
    • *sus* → *sauce*: As in, “Hard to saucetain” and “Environmentally saucetainable” and “Barely sauce-ceptible” and “The main saucepect.” Other words that could work: sauce-picious (suspicious), sauce-pend (suspend), sauce-tainability (sustainability), sauce-pense (suspense), sauce-pension (suspension), sauce-tenance (sustenance), sauce-pension (suspension), sauce-tenance (sustenance), consensauce (consensus), versauce (versus), censauce (census), Jesauce (Jesus), colossauce (colossus), narcissauce (narcissus).
    • *soc* → *saucy*: As in, “Mainstream saucy-ety” and “Saucy-al attitudes” and “Studying saucy-ology.” Other words you could try: saucy-opath (sociopath), saucy-al (social), saucy-alist (socialist), assaucy-ate (associate), assaucy-ation (association).
    • Assasin → Assaucyn
    • Session → Saucyon
  • Steam/Steamy: As things can get a bit steamy on Valentine’s Day, we have some steam-related puns for you to play around with:
    • Team → Steam: As in, “Dream steam” and “Go steam!” and “Take one for the steam” and “Steam player” and “Steam spirit” and “Together we make a great steam.”
    • Seam → Steam: As in, “Bulging at the steams” and “Come apart at the steam.”
    • Stem → Steam: As in, “Steam the tide.”
    • Seem → Steam: As in, “Sorry steams to be the hardest word.”
    • *stam* → *steam*: As in, “Steamp of approval” and “Out of steamina” and “Raging steampede” and “Did I steammer?” and “A testeament to…”
    • *stem* → *steam*: As in, “Systeam thinking” and “Functional ecosysteam.” Other words that could work: episteamology (epistemology) and systeamic (systemic). Note: epistemology is the study of knowledge.
  • Sex/sexy: We know a lot of Valentine’s Day dates end with a bit of hanky panky, so we have some related puns for you:
    • Six → Sex: As in, “Sex degrees of separation” and “Sexth sense.”
    • Saxophone → Sexophone
    • *sac* → *sex*: As in, “Not worth the sexrifice” and “Down the cul-de-sex” and “Financial transexion” and “Safety and sexurity.” Other words you could use: sexion (section), consexutive (consecutive), sextor (sector), dissext (dissect) and intersexion (intersection).
    • *sics* → *sex*: As in, “The classex” and “Everyday physex” and “Back to basex” and “Working in forensex.”
    • *suc* → *sex*: Sexinct (succinct), sexess (success), sexeed (succeed), sexessful (successful) and sexession (succession).
  • Lust: For our cheekier users, we’ve got some lust-related puns to play with:
    • Last → Lust: As in, “At long lust” and “At the lust minute” and “Breathe your lust” and “Built to lust” and “Lust resort” and “Fame at lust” and “Famous lust words” and “Free at lust” and “To the lust drop” and “Hear the lust of” and “Lust but not least” and “Lust call” and “Lust chance” and “Lust ditch effort” and “Lust in, first out” and “The lust straw.”
    • List → Lust: As in, “On the short lust” and “Top ten lust” and “Bucket lust.”
    • Lost → Lust: As in, “All is not lust” and “Get lust” and “Long lust” and “Lust in translation” and “Lust and found” and “A lust cause” and “Lust in thought” and “A lust soul.”
    • Least → Lust: As in, “Last but not lust” and “Lust common denominator” and “Lust worst option” and “Line of lust resistance” and “Not in the lust” and “At the very lust” and “To say the lust.”
    • *lis* → *lust*: Chrysalust (chrysalis), metropolust (metropolis), borealust (borealis), acropolust (acropolis), holustic (holistic).
    • *lus* → *lust*: As in, “A surplust of” and “Mental calculust” and “Pen stylust.”
    • *last* → *lust*: As in, “Blust from the past” and “Plustic surgery” and “Elustic thinking” and “Everlusting love.”
    • *lest* → *lust*: As in, “The absolute coollust” and “Live life to the fullust” and “The simplust solution” and “Tallust tree” and “Celustial beings” and “Watching your cholusterol.”
    • *list* → *lust*: populust (populist), evangelust (evangelist), journalust (journalist), specialust (specialist), checklust (checklist), holustic (holistic) and ballustic (ballistic).
  • Passing → Passion: As in, “Just passion through” and “Passion in the night.”
  • Fashion → Passion: As in, “Passionably late” and “The height of passion” and “The old-passioned way” and “Passions may come and go, but good manners never go out of style.”
  • Essential → Essensual: As in, “Essensually, yes” and “The bare essensuals.”
  • Sense → Sensual: As in, “Come to your sensuals” and “Common sensual” and “Make sensual of.”
  • Cent → Sensual: As in, “Give your two sensuals” and “A hundred per sensual.”
  • Use → Seduce: As in, “Put to good seduce” and “So easy to seduce” and “Things aren’t what they seduced to be” and “Seducer friendly.”
  • Far → Affair: As in, “Few and affair between” and “So affair, so good” and “Affair cry.”
  • Fair → Affair: As in, “All’s affair in love and war” and “By affair means or foul” and “Affair trade” and “Affair and above board.”
  • Flair → Affair: As in, “Got an affair for”
  • Cup → Couple: As in, “Not my couple of tea” and “Storm in a tea-couple.”
  • Affliction → Affection
  • Part → Partner: As in, “Act the partner” and “For my partner” and “Good in partners” and “If you’re not a partner of the solution, you’re a partner of the problem.”
  • Ship → Partnership: As in, “Abandon partnership” and “Don’t give up the partnership” and “From chips to partnerships” and “Go down with the partnership” and “Jump partnership” and “Loose lips sink partnerships” and “My partnership has come in.”
  • *part* → *partner*: partner-isan (partisan), partner-ticular (particular), partnertake (partake), partner-icle (particle), partner-icipate (participate), apartner (apart), counterpartner (counterpart), impartner (impart), rampartner (rampart), departner (depart).
  • Stupid → Cupid: As in, “Criminal cupidity” and “I’m with cupid” and “Keep it simple, Cupid” and “Cupid is as Cupid does” and “Interesting, but Cupid.” Note: “stupid” is an ableist term. This replacement is a nice way to involve Valentine’s Day and make these previously stupid-related phrases a little more acceptable.
  • Simple → Symbol: As in, “It’s so symbol” and “Keep it symbol” and “Symbol pleasures” and “Pure and symbol” and “Symbol yet effective” and “Symbol as that.” Note: Valentine’s Day is one of heavy romantic and personal emotional symbolism, which is why symbol-related puns have been included.
  • Ring: Rings are a heavily symbolic item for romance, and people may trade them as a symbol of commitment to their relationship on Valentine’s Day. Here are some related puns:
    • Wing → Ring: As in, “Earned your rings” and “Ring it” and “Ringman” and “Draw-ring lots” and “Taken under [someone’s] ring.”
    • Wrong → Ring: As in, “Barking up the ring tree” and “Born on the ring side of the tracks” and “Get off on the ring foot” and “On the ring side of the bed.”
    • *rang* → *ring*: As in, “Boomering effect” and “Oringe flavoured” and “Estringed family members.”
    • *rink* → *ring-k*: As in, “Skating ring-k” and “Dring-k like a fish” and “On the bring-k of” and “Shringking violet” and “Binge dringking.” Other words you could use: spring-kle (sprinkle), springkling (sprinkling), wring-kle (wrinkle) and tring-ket (trinket).
  • Card → Greeting Card: As in, “A few greeting cards short of a full deck” and “Greeting card up your sleeve” and “Deck of greeting cards” and “Hold all the greeting cards.”
  • Ship → Friendship: As in, “Don’t give up the friendship” and “From chips to friendships” and “Loose lips sink friendships.” Note: While Valentine’s Day is historically about romantic love, platonic love is important to celebrate too!
  • Court: To court someone is to “woo” or interact with them with the intention of building a romantic relationship. Here are some related puns:
    • Cart → Court: As in, “A la courte” and “Courted away” and “Crash court” and “In the court.”
    • Quarter → Courter: As in, “A bad courter of an hour” and “Give no courter” and “Show no courter” and “Courter past” and “Close courters.”
    • Got → Court: As in, “You’ve court to do what you’ve court to do” and “I think you’ve court it” and “Cat court your tongue?” and “Give it all you’ve court” and “Court a flair for.”
    • Caught → Court: As in, “Court in the act” and “Court in two minds” and “Court off-base” and “Court short” and “Court up in the moment” and “Wouldn’t be court dead.”
    • *cart* → *court*: courtridge (cartridge), courtilege (cartilege) and courton (carton).
    • *cort* → *court*: courtex (cortex), courtisol (cortisol) and escourt (escort).
    • *curt* → *court*: As in, “Behind the courtain” and “Deep courtsey” and “Courtail the topic.” Note: to curtail something is to shorten it.
    • *cot* → *court*: As in, “100% courtton” and “Holiday courttage” and “Apricourt flavoured” and “Company mascourt” and “Boycourtting the brand.”
  • Trend → Tender: As in, “Buck the tender” and “On tender.”

The next section is dedicated to endearments – some romantic, all very affectionate:

  • *dling → *darling: As in, “Not han-darling it that well” and “You med-darling kids!” and “Light the kin-darling” and “Dwindarling in number” and “Fresh seedarling.”
  • Bae: The word “bae” is a fairly new term and is a shortened version of “babe” or “baby”. Here are related puns:
    • Bay → Bae: As in, “Bae for blood” and “Hold at bae” and “Keep at bae.”
    • Buy → Bae: As in, “Bae into” and “Bae now, pay later” and “Bae one, get one free” and “Bae some time” and “Can’t bae me love” and “The best money can bae.”
    • Bye → Bae: As in, “Kiss goodbae to” and “Can never say goodbae” and “Time to say goodbae” and “You can kiss that one goodbae.”
    • Day → Bae: As in, “A bae in the life” and “A hard bae’s night” and “All in a bae’s work” and “All the livelong bae” and “Tomorrow is another bae.”
    • Pay → Bae: As in, “Buy now, bae later” and “Crime doesn’t bae” and “Hell to bae” and “Bae as you go.”
    • Be → Bae: As in, “Bae who you want to bae” and “What would you like to bae?” and “That wouldn’t bae real.”
    • *ba → *bae: Amoebae (amoeba), marimbae (marimba), sambae (samba), mambae (mamba), urbaen (urban), exacerbaete (exacerbate), debaecle (debacle), verbaetim (verbatim) and baese (base).
    • *be* → *bae*: As in, “What have you baecome?” and “Where to baegin?” and “Mutual baenefit.”
    • *bi* → *bae*: As in, “False alibae” and “Wasabae flavoured.” Other words you could use: ubaequitous (ubiquitous), arbaetrary (arbitrary), forbaed (forbid), liabaelity (liability) and phobae-a (phobia).
    • *bu* → *bae*: As in, “Down to bae-siness” and “Get baesy” and “Favourite attribaete.”
    • *ba* → *bae*: As in, “Be left holding the baeby” and “Waiting in the lobbae” and “Rubae coloured.” Other words you could use: therbae (thereby), shabbae (shabby), wherebae (whereby), hobbae (hobby), abbaess (abyss), baegone (bygone), baepass (bypass) and baeproduct (byproduct).
  • Maybe → Baby: As in, “Baby she’s born with it” and “Call me baby.”
  • Aby* → Baby*: As in, “Babysmal (abysmal) performance” and “Down in the babyss.”
  • Abi* → Baby*: As in, “Within your babylity (ability) to” and “Doesn’t suit your babylities.”
  • Deer → Dear: As in, “A dear in headlights.”
  • Dare → Dear: As in, “Dear for more” and “Dear to be different” and “How dear you!”
  • Eerie → Dearie: “A dearie atmosphere.”
  • There → Dear: As in, “Ahoy dear!” and “Not all dear” and “Are we dear yet?” and “Be dear for” and “Be dear or be square” and “Don’t go dear.”
  • Their → Dear: And “..and dear toys” and “Cut down in dear prime” and “Swept off dear feet.”
  • Idea → Idear: As in, “A better idear” and “Bounce idears off” and “A bright idear” and “Put across an idear” and “The spark of an idear” and “What’s the big idear?”
  • Deal → Dearl: As in, “A big dearl” and “Cut a dearl” and “Dearl breaker” and “Dearl from the bottom of the deck” and “Dearl me in” and “Dearl or no dearl?” and “Dearl with it” and “A done dearl” and “If life dearls you lemonds, make lemonade” and “Seal the dearl.”
  • Tear → Dear: As in, “Bathed in dears” and “Blood, sweat and dears” and “Bored to dears” and “Brings dears to your eyes” and “Fighting back dears” and “It will all end in dears” and “Melt into dears” and “Moved to dears” and “No more dears.”
  • *tary → *deary: As in, “Proprideary cable” and “Complemendeary colours” and “New secredeary job” and “A sedendeary lifestyle.” Other words that could work: rudimendeary (rudimentary), documendeary (documentary), monedeary (monetary) and solideary (solitary).
  • *dar* → *dear*: As in, “New calendear year” and “On my radear” and “Cedear scented” and “Get that cheddear.”
  • *der* → *dear*: As in, “Law and ordear” and “In the lardear” and “Graphic rendearing” and “Love me tendear” and “Disordearly conduct.” Other words you could use: wondear (wonder), considear (consider), leadear (leader), hindear (hinder), spidear (spider), dearive (derive), dearivative (derivative), dearogatory (derogatory), dearision (derision), dearelict (derelict), dearide (deride), undearstand (understand) and considearation (consideration).
  • *dir* → *dear*: As in, “Honest and dearect” and “Clear and dearect orders” and “In the right dearection” and “Credit to the dearector” and “Down and dearty” and “New dearectives” and “Go dearectly to the source.”
  • *dur* → *dear*: “Emotional dearess (duress)” and “Dearing the war” and “For the full dearation.” Other words you could use: dearable (durable), dearability (durability), dearian (durian), endear (endure), endearance (endurance), endearing (enduring).
  • Epiphany → Epiphoney
  • Sunny → Honey: As in, “On the honey side of the street” and “Honey side up.”
  • Money → Honey: As in, “A fool and his honey are soon parted” and “A ton of honey” and “Easy honey” and “For love or honey” and “Get your honey’s worth” and “Not made of honey” and “In the honey.”
  • *hony → *honey: As in, “In symphoney” and “A cacophoney of noise.”
  • Pat → Pet: As in, “Got it down pet” and “A pet on the back.”
  • Pit → Pet: As in, “Bottomless pet” and “In the pet of your stomach” and “Mosh pet” and “Pet your wits against.”
  • Put → Pet: As in, “Hard pet to” and “Couldn’t pet it down” and “Don’t pet all your eggs in one basket” and “Feel a bit pet out” and “Wouldn’t pet it past him.”
  • Bet → Pet: As in, “All pets are off” and “Pet your bottom dollar.”
  • Get → Pet: As in, “As good as it pets” and “Buy one, pet one free” and “Come and pet it” and “Don’t pet me started it” and “Can’t pet enough of this.”
  • *pat* → *pet*: As in, “Follows a pettern” and “Petent pending” and “A pethetic effort” and “Wouldn’t have anticipeted it” and “Not a petch on.”
  • *pet*: We can simply emphasise the “pet” that already exists in these words: petty, petulant, petition, petite, carpet, parapet, trumpet, puppet, snippet, limpet, crumpet, impetus, perpetual, competent and competition.
  • *pit* → *pet*: cockpet (cockpit), pulpet (pulpit), armpet (armpit), capetal (capital), epetome (epitome) and serendipety (serendipity).
  • *pot* → *pet*: As in, “Fulfill your petential” and “Mashed petatoes” and “Gained through nepetism” and “I’m not omnipetent.”
  • *bat* → *pet*: compet (combat), acropet (acrobat), numpet (numbat), wompet (wombat), exacerpet (exacerbate) and verpetim (verbatim).
  • *bet* → *pet*: As in, “Petter yourself” and “You can do petter” and “Read petween the lines” and “Deep petrayal” and “To be petrothed” and “Alphapet soup” and “Sherpet flavoured.”
  • *bit* → *pet*: inhipet (inhibit), gampet (gambit), exhipet (exhibit), hapet (habit), orpet (orbit), prohipet (prohibit) and arpetrary (arbitrary).
  • *ped* → *pet*: petantic (pedantic), petigree (pedigree), petestrian (pedestrian), petestal (pedestal), expetition (expedition) and impetiment (impediment).
  • Podiatrist → Petiatrist (Note: this is very specific yes, but whatever works.)
  • Lamb: Lamb is an intimate term of endearment generally used for romantic partners, children or pets. Here are related puns:
    • Limb → Lamb: As in, “Go out on a lamb” and “Risk life and lamb” and “Lamber up.”
    • *lam* → *lamb*: As in, “Lambenting your troubles” and “Bedside lamb-p” and “Lambinated document.” Other words you could use: slamb (slam), clamb (clam), bedlamb (bedlam), salambander (salamander).
    • *lem* → *lamb*: As in, “Lamb-on (lemon) sorbet” and “Make lambonade” and “Add lambongrass” and “Problamb-solving attitude” and “Family emblamb.” Other words that could work: golamb (golem), complamb-ent (complement), implamb-ent (implement), dilamba (dilemma), elamb-ent (element), supplamb-ent (supplement), solamb (solemn) and implamb-entation (implementation).
    • *lim* → *lamb*: “There’s a lambit (limit) for everything” and “Stuck in lambo” and “Walking with a lamb-p (limp).” Other words that could work: lambited (limited), lamber (limber), slamb (slim), complamb-ent (compliment), complamb-entary (complimentary), prelamb-inary (preliminary) and elambinate (eliminate).
    • *lum* → *lamb*: lambinous (luminous), lambinary (luminary), curriculamb (curriculum), asylamb (asylum), pendulamb (pendulum), hoodlamb (hoodlum), colamb (column) and alamb-ni (alumni).
  • Treasure: This is another endearment that is usually reserved for closer, more familial ties like pets, lovers, children or close friends. Here are related puns for you to play with:
    • Measure → Treasure: As in, “Desperate treasures” and “Half treasures” and “Treasure up.”
    • Pleasure → Treasure: As in, “Business before treasure” and “Business or treasure?” and “Double your treasure” and “Guilty treasure.”
  • Beauty → Cutie: As in, “Age before cutie” and “Cutie and the beast.”
  • Duty → Cutie: As in, “Beyond the call of cutie” and “Double cutie” and “Cutie bound” and “Reporting for cutie!”
  • *cuti* → *cutie*: cutie-cle (cuticle), executie-ve (executive), consecutie-ve (consecutive) and consecutie-vely (consecutively).
  • *cute → *cutie: As in, “Acutie appendicitis” and “Executie the plan.” Other words: prosecutie (prosecute), persecutie and electrocutie.
  • Amor: This means “love”, and is sometimes combined with “mi” (mi amor) to mean “my love”. Here are related puns for you play with:
    • *amar* → *amor*: amoranth (amaranth), amoryllis (amaryllis), camoraderie (camaraderie), tamorind (tamarind), samoritan (samaritan), aquamorine (aquamarine) and rigamorole (rigamarole).
    • *amer* → *amor*: Amorican (American), gossamor (gossamer) and camora (camera).
  • Flame: Referring to someone as your flame is to call them your lover and has connotations specifically of physical love and affection. Here are related puns:
    • Fame → Flame: As in, “Claim to flame” and “Fifteen minutes of flame” and “Hall of flame.”
    • Aim → Flame: As in, “Flame high” and “Take flame” and “Flame to please.”
    • Blame → Flame: As in, “Flame game” and “Lay the flame on” and “Flame culture.”
    • Came → Flame: As in, “I flame, I saw, I conquered” and “As it flame to pass.”
    • Frame → Flame: As in, “Freeze flame” and “In the flame.”
    • *fam* → *fame*: As in, “Friends and fame-ily” and “A fame-iliar place” and “Almost flameous” and “40 hour flame-ine.” Other words that could work: flame-ilial (familial), flame-ished (famished), inflame-ous (infamous) and deflame-ation (defamation).
    • Flam* → Flame*: As in, “Flame-boyant event” and “Plastic flame-ingo” and “Dance the flame-enco.”
  • Palaver → Palover (Note: a palaver is an unecessary fuss)
  • Lever* → Lover*: Loverage (leverage) and lover (lever).
  • Deliver → Delover: As in, “Delover the goods” and “Express delovery” and “Undeloverable to your address” and “Seek deloverance.”
  • Wifi → Wife-i
  • Space → Spouse: As in, “Personal spouse” and “Office spouse” and “Deep spouse.”
  • *spos* → *spouse*: As in, “Dispouse of what you don’t need” and “A sunny dispouse-ition” and “Rubbish dispouse-al” and “Dispouse-able plastics” and “Predispoused with other matters.”
  • Spacious → Spouseious: “A spouseious house.”

Valentine’s Day-Related Words

To help you come up with your own Valentine’s Day puns, here’s a list of related words to get you on your way. If you come up with any new puns or related words, please feel free to share them in the comments!

general: valentine, valentine’s, love, loved, loved one, loving, lovely, romance, romantic, crush, fancy, infatuation, dating, together, woo, wooing, flirt, flirting, flirtatious, like, confess, confession, anniversary, feelings, heart, dinner, date, roses, flowers, bouquet,  gift, present, poem, poetry, love letter, chocolate, keepsake, sentimental, kiss, hug, cuddle, desire, saucy, sexy, sex, lust, passion, erotic, intimate, sensual, seductive, adore, admire, smitten, yearning, relationship, affair, couple, endearment, significant other, better half, affection, partner, partnership, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, cupid, symbol, ring, jewelry, commitment, monogamous, monogamy, polyamory, polyamorous, greeting card, lingerie, devotion, emotion, fond, friendship, cherish, devoted, celebration, court, courting, tender

endearments: darling, bae, baby, dear, sweetheart, sweetie, honey, sugar, pet, muffin, lamb, treasure, cutie, cutie pie, beautiful, amor, flame, lover

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