Simile

On this page

• Definition
• Clichés
• Similes from literature
• Additional information

Definition

A simile is a figure of speech that highlights the similarities between two ideas, using the words like or as. A simile usually compares two things in a way that helps the reader form a mental picture.

• The soft mattress felt like a cloud to Karl after a long day of physical labour.
• After finishing her last exam, Alina felt as light as a feather.

In these examples, the writer compares Karl’s bed to a cloud and Alina’s sense of buoyancy to the lightness of a feather. The effect on the reader is a clear mental image of comfort or relief.

Clichés

When a simile is so overused that it loses its effect in a written text, it’s called a cliché.

Although clichés are easily understood, they lack originality and impact, because they’re so commonplace. While clichés can be very useful in conversation, they should be avoided in formal writing.

• as clear as day
• as red as a beet
• like two peas in a pod
• like water on a duck’s back

Similes from literature

When you use unexpected similes, you capture the reader’s attention and create a stronger mental image. Here are some examples from Canadian authors and poets:

And there when lengthening twilights fall
As softly as a wild bird’s wing …

 —Bliss Carman

Here and there a wild plum leaned out from the bank like a white-clad girl tip-toeing to her own reflection.

 —L. M. Montgomery

Moments before sleep are when she feels most alive, leaping across fragments of the day, bringing each moment into the bed with her like a child with schoolbooks and pencils.

 —Michael Ondaatje

Out of the jargoning city I regret,
Rise memories like sparrows rising from
The gutter-scattered oats,
Like sadness sweet of synagogal hum,
Like Hebrew violins
Sobbing delight upon their Eastern notes

 —A. M. Klein

Additional information

• Similes: As easy as ABC! (quiz)
• Similes: As easy as pie! (quiz)
• Similes: Like taking candy from a baby! (quiz)