Similes Examples

A simile is a figurative device in which two unlike things are compared by using the word "like" or "as". In a simile one thing is not said to be the other-only like it.

A simile is different from a metaphor. A metaphor compares two things by saying that one thing is the other.

1. He runs like a horse.

2. He eats like a pig.

3. Her dancing was a smooth as a flowing river.

4. She was as cool as a cucumber under pressure.

5. I turned as white as a ghost when you jumped out at me.

6. That little girl is as sweet as sugar.

7. This math problem is as easy as pie.

8. The child chattered like a magpie.

9. The baby was as busy as a bee.

10. Swinging on those bars, you look like a monkey.

Examples of Similes in Literature

1. From Shakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet: "Her beauty hangs upon the cheek of night,Like a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear."

2. In William Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud": "I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er vales and hills."

3. From Emily Dickenson: "There is no frigate like a book / to take us lands away. / Nor any coursers like a page / of prancing poetry."

4. From Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven": "Suddenly there came a tapping / as of someone gently rapping."