similes
Explicit poetic comparisons
Similes are comparisons using "like" or "as" to connect two unlike things: Her eyes sparkled like diamonds, He ran as fast as the wind.
The word is the plural of simile.
Unlike metaphors, which state that one thing *is* another, similes explicitly mark the comparison.
They appear constantly in poetry, song lyrics, and everyday speech: sleep like a baby, clear as mud, spread like wildfire.
Implied identity comparison
- analogyExplanatory likeness between things
- comparisonAssessment of similarities
- personificationAttributing humanity to non-humans
- hyperboleRhetorical extreme exaggeration
allegory · imagery · symbolism · allusion · idiom · figure of speech · likening · parallel
Comparable to, or enjoy
- asComparison word
- tenorEssential meaning or import
- vehicleMeans of transport
- groundSolid surface underfoot
connector · resemblance · analogy · parallel · equivalence · likeness · correspondence · association
Implied identity comparison
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- parableInstructive allegorical narrative
- conceitExaggerated self-admiration
- analogueSomething functionally similar
fable · imagery · symbolism · alliteration · assonance · verse · prose · narrative device
Overused and unoriginal
- triteOverused, lacking freshness
- platitudeTrite, overused remark
- stock phraseFixed, conventional expression
- overusedEmployed too frequently
worn-out · stale · formulaic · conventional · predictable · stereotyped · unoriginal · commonplace
metaphor
Implied identity comparison
- analogyExplanatory likeness between things
- comparisonAssessment of similarities
- personificationAttributing humanity to non-humans
hyperbole · allegory · imagery · symbolism · allusion · idiom · figure of speech · likening · parallel · resemblance
like
Comparable to, or enjoy
ground · connector · resemblance · analogy · parallel · equivalence · likeness · correspondence · association · relation
metaphor
Implied identity comparison
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- parableInstructive allegorical narrative
- conceitExaggerated self-admiration
analogue · fable · imagery · symbolism · alliteration · assonance · verse · prose · narrative device · literary device
hackneyed
Overused and unoriginal
- triteOverused, lacking freshness
- platitudeTrite, overused remark
- stock phraseFixed, conventional expression
overused · worn-out · stale · formulaic · conventional · predictable · stereotyped · unoriginal · commonplace · banal
- descriptive languagedescriptive writing, vivid language, vivid detail, sensory language, sensory detail
- Hip-Hoprapper, rappers, rhymes, beat, lyrics
- phrasesnoun phrases, noun phrase, verb phrase, prepositional phrase, prepositional phrases
- Homeric epicsIliad, Odyssey, Homer, Achilles, Odysseus
- writing termsplot, character, creative writing, vivid imagery, composition
- Greek poetryHomer, Sappho, Iliad, Odyssey, hymns
similesmetaphors
Implicit comparison expressions
metonymy · synecdoche · analogies · personification · allegories
- similar toResembling in nature
- similar to me
- similar trianglesShapes with equal corresponding angles
- epic simileElaborate extended comparison in verse
similar, similarity, similarly, assimilate, dissimilar, simile, assimilation, similarities, dissimilarity