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 D.

• As dangerous as a machine gun
• As dark as a dungeon
• As dark as pitch
• As dark as midnight
• As dead as a doornail
• As dead as the Roman Empire
• As dead as wood
• As dead as mutton
• As deaf as beetle
• As deaf as billows
• As deceitful as the devil
• As deceptive as the mirage of the desert
• As deep as despair
• As deep as hell
• As deep as sea
• As dejected as the wet hen
• As delicious as forbidden fruit
• As delicious as a dream
• As desolate as a tomb
• As devoted as a faithful dog
• As difficult as a Greek puzzle
• As difficult as a beginning
• As dirty as a hog
• As disappointing as wet gunpowder
• As dismal as a hearse
• As distant as the horizon
• As dizzy as a goose
• As docile as a lamp
• As dreadful as the gathering storm
• As dreary as an Asian steppe
• As dreary as an empty house
• As drunk as a top
• As drunk as a fish
• As drunk as a beggar
• As dry as dust
• As dry as a bone
• As dull as ditch water
• As dull as lead
• As dump as oyster
• As dump as a mouse