What Is a Simile? Definition and Examples of Simile in Literature

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.” Common similes include the descriptive phrases “cool as a cucumber,” “cold as ice,” and “sly like a fox.” Writers often use similes to introduce concrete images into writing about abstract concepts. For example, in Winston Groom’s 1986 novel Forrest Gump, the author uses the simile “life is like a box of chocolate.” Similes are a great way to make creative writing more exciting and memorable without losing clarity.

Similes and metaphors are both types of comparison and forms of figurative language. A simile is a type of metaphor, but there is a key difference between these literary terms. A simile compares two unrelated things using the words “like” or “as.” A metaphor, on the other hand, makes a direct comparison for rhetorical effect.

Similes are simple comparisons to write because they follow an easy formula: "X is like Y.” Consider the following tips when writing similes:

• Add visuals. A simile can paint a picture of a particular character or situation in the reader’s mind. Make sure that the image is as vivid as possible.
• Be clear. Many strong similes use plain, everyday speech. Think about what you’re trying to compare and the context you’re doing it in. Does the simile fit the emotion of the scene? Does it fit the character or characters in that scene?
• Think of original ideas. Avoid clichés or similes that are common. Think about the imagery you’re trying to evoke for the reader, and don’t pick the first comparison that comes to your mind—this is usually the easy choice, and it won’t be as powerful as your second or third idea.
• Use similes sparingly. Similes are a great literary device to spice up your writing, but you should use similes sparingly; otherwise, they can become distracting to readers.

The use of similes is widespread in song lyrics and literature because using similes can create vivid descriptions. Some famous simile examples from literature include:

1. 1. Romeo and Juliet (1597): In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, Lady Capulet likens the sight of her daughter’s death to that of a warning bell. “This sight of death is as a bell that warns my old age to a sepulcher.”
2. 2. “A Red, Red Rose” (1794): Scottish poet Robert Burns’s song “A Red, Red Rose” features several similes, comparing love to a rose. “O my luve's like a red, red rose, that's newly sprung in June; O my luve's like the melodie, that's sweetly played in tune.”
3. 3. “Daffodils” (1807): English poet William Wordsworth wrote the simile “I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales and hills” in his 1807 poem “Daffodils.”
4. 4. A Christmas Carol (1843): In Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, the character Ebenezer Scrooge uses the simile “dead as a doornail” to describe Marley’s death.
5. 5. The Adventure of the Three Gables (1926): Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novel The Adventure of the Three Gables creatively describes a character using this simile: “She entered with ungainly struggle like some huge awkward chicken, torn, squawking, out of its coop.”
6. 6. The Handmaid’s Tale (1985): Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale includes a simile likening a woman to sand. “Time has not stood still. It has washed over me, washed me away, as if I’m nothing more than a woman of sand, left by a careless child too near the water.”

Similes and metaphors are two closely related literary terms, and they are often confused for one another because they are both types of comparison and forms of figurative language (or non-literal language).

In fact, similes are a type of metaphor, because metaphor is a general term to describe a comparison that is often poetic. Similes have two more specific attributes that make them a subset of metaphor:

• A simile uses like or as. This is the most basic requirement of a simile, and it’s an easy one to notice—all similes use either like or as to make their comparison.
• A simile is often more obvious than a metaphor. Similes are relatively more obvious when compared to metaphors because of their use of like or as—those two words act as flags to indicate to readers that the comparison is a simile. By using like or as, readers can recognize that they should suspend their disbelief for the comparison, because the writer isn’t attempting to convince readers that X is Y (as a metaphor would), but merely invite them to notice that X is like Y.

Learn more about the differences and similarities between metaphor and simile in our complete guide here.

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