simile
Other forms: similes
Use the noun simile when describing a comparison between two fundamentally different things, such as: "His voice was smooth, like butter in a warm pan."
A simile (pronounced SIM-uh-lee) is a comparison that usually uses the words "like" or "as": "Me without a mic is like a beat without a snare," rapped Lauryn Hill in the song "How Many Mics." The word comes from similus, a Latin word meaning "the same." A simile is different from a metaphor, in which the comparison is less explicit, as in Shakespeare's line "All the world's a stage."
Definitions of simile
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a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as')
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type of:
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figure, figure of speech, image, trope
language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense
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figure, figure of speech, image, trope
Pronunciation
US
/ˈsɪmɪli/
UK
/ˈsɪmɪli/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘simile'.
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Commonly confused words
metaphor / simile
Both make comparisons, but a metaphor compares one thing to another straight up, while a simile uses "like" or "as."
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