Simile Definition: Saying One Thing Is Like Another

Simile definition with a worked breakdown

If you had to define simile in one breath, you would say it takes two things that are basically different and points out one way they are alike. The word like or as openly signals that a comparison is being made.

• The thing being described: the classroom after the bell
• The thing it is compared to: a beehive
• The shared quality: noise and busy movement
• The simile: After the bell, the classroom buzzed like a beehive.

So what does a simile mean for a reader? It turns a plain statement into a picture. "The room was loud" tells you a fact; "the room was like a beehive" lets you hear it.

Fresh simile examples

• The puppy's ears flopped like two wet socks.
• My phone battery drains as fast as water from a cracked glass.
• The old bus groaned up the hill like a tired grandfather climbing stairs.
• Her answer was as sharp as a paper cut.
• The fog sat on the town as if someone had pulled a grey blanket over it.
• After the exam, I felt as light as a balloon with the string cut.

Simile versus metaphor

Both compare unlike things, but they do it differently.

A handy test: if you can remove like or as and the line still makes sense as an image, you have turned a simile into a metaphor. An analogy goes further, explaining how two things work alike, often over several sentences.

Not every like or as is a simile

This is the most common mistake students make. A simile compares two unlike things for effect. Ordinary comparisons of similar things are not similes.

• "My sister looks like my mother." Not a simile: both are people, and this is a literal resemblance.
• "I like pizza." Not a simile: here like is a verb meaning enjoy.
• "Work as a team." Not a simile: as means in the role of.
• "My sister's temper is like a summer storm." A simile: a mood compared to weather.

Roots in Latin similis

English borrowed simile from Latin, where it was the neuter form of similis, "like" or "resembling", so it meant roughly "a like thing" or "a comparison". From that root English also gets similar, similarity and simulate. That is also why the word keeps its three syllables: the final e is pronounced, unlike in smile.

How to write a good simile

1. Pick one quality. Decide exactly what you want to show: speed, softness, noise, sadness.
2. Find a surprising match. Think of something from daily life that has that quality strongly but is otherwise unlike your subject.
3. Avoid clichés. "As cold as ice" and "as brave as a lion" are so familiar that readers skim past them.
4. Keep it fitting. A simile for a gentle scene should not drag in violent images by accident.
5. Use them sparingly. Three similes in one sentence feel crowded.

Long, detailed similes that run over several lines are called extended or epic similes, and they appear in ancient poetry. Related tools include personification and imagery, and you can find dozens more on our page of literary tools.