English for Students

Similes

Similes are a specific and formulaic form of allegory. A simile is a juxtaposed comparison of two or more objects to draw attention to their similarities. In English, similes are typically marked by use of like or as or than or resembles. Similes show how two things, that are not alike in most ways, are similar in one important way. Similes are a way to describe something. Authors use them to make their writing more interesting or entertaining.

A popular mnemonic for a simile is that a simile is similar or alike.

Examples:

1. Playing chess with Ashley is like trying to outsmart a computer.

The activity playing chess with Ashley is being compared to trying to outsmart a computer. The point is that Ashley can think in a powerful manner that resembles the way a computer operates, not that she is like a computer in any other way.

2. His temper was as explosive as a volcano.

His temper is being compared to a volcano in that it can be sudden and violent.

Few more examples of similes:

• Walking onto those sun-warmed stones was like stepping onto a hot plate.
• The cat, quick as lightning, pounced on the rat.
• She's as dull as a doorknob.

Similes have been widely used in literature for their expressiveness as a figure of speech:

• Curley was flopping like a fish on a line.
• The very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric.
• Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus.

Here is list of Similes beginning with A.

• As active as quicksilver
• As afraid as a grasshopper
• As ageless as the sun
• As agile as a cat
• As agile as a monkey
• As alert as a bird
• As alike as two peas
• As alone as a leper
• As alone as Crusoe
• As ambitious as the devil
• As ambitious as the lady Macbeth
• As ancient as the sun
• As ancient as the stars
• As angry as wasp
• As far apart as the poles
• As arid as the sand of Sahara
• As artificial as the clockwork
• As artificial as made-ice
• As audacious as the day
• As awful as justice
• As awful as thunder
• As awful as silence
• As awkward as a cow on ice