Simile
Literary term · say it SIM-uh-lee
A simile is a comparison between different things, usually using like or as to show a quality they share. It helps readers picture something, understand a feeling, or notice a detail.
Ways simile appears
Comparisons using like
The word like connects two different things through a shared quality, such as shape, movement, or behaviour.
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice shrinks after drinking from a little bottle. Her body becoming smaller is compared to a telescope folding down.
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Comparisons using as
The word as links things through a shared quality, often in the pattern as something as something else.
At the opening of A Christmas Carol, the narrator compares Marley's deadness to that of a nail in a door, leaving no doubt that Marley has died.
In A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The extended, or epic, simile
An epic simile runs on for several lines, adding detail after detail to one comparison until the picture is almost a small scene of its own.
In The Iliad, the gleam of the armour of the Greek army as it marches out is compared at length to a fire raging through a mountain forest.
In The Iliad by Homer
How to spot simile
- Look for comparisons using like or as.
- Identify the two different things being compared.
- Ask what quality they share and what the comparison helps you notice.
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What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor?
A simile compares things using words such as like or as, while a metaphor presents one thing as another. Calling a room like an oven is a simile; calling the room an oven is a metaphor. Both draw attention to its heat.
Does every sentence with like or as contain a simile?
No, like and as have other uses, so their presence alone does not make a simile. Someone saying they like apples is expressing a preference. Look for a comparison between different things that highlights a shared quality, rather than simply finding either word.
Related terms
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