Adjacent Words

Simile definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SIMILE, n. sim'ily. [L.] In rhetoric, similitude; a comparison of two thing which, however different in other respects, have some strong point or points of resemblance; by which comparison, the character or qualities of a thing are illustrated or presented in an impressive light. Thus, the eloquence of Demosthenes was like a rapid torrent; that of Cicero, like a large stream that glides smoothly along with majestic tranquility.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as')

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin, comparison, from neuter of similis Date: 14th century a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as (as in cheeks like roses) — compare metaphor

Britannica Concise

Figure of speech involving a comparison between two unlike entities. In a simile, unlike a metaphor, the resemblance is indicated by the words "like" or "as." Similes in everyday speech reflect simple comparisons, as in "He eats like a bird" or "She is slow as molasses." Similes in literature may be specific and direct or more lengthy and complex. The Homeric, or epic, simile, which is typically used in epic poetry, often extends to several lines.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another of a different kind, as an illustration or ornament (e.g. as brave as a lion). 2 the use of such comparison. Etymology: ME f. L, neut. of similis like

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Simile Simi"*le, n.; pl. Similes. [L., from similis. See Similar.] (Rhet.) A word or phrase by which anything is likened, in one or more of its aspects, to something else; a similitude; a poetical or imaginative comparison. A good swift simile, but something currish. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(similes) A simile is an expression which describes a person or thing as being similar to someone or something else. For example, the sentences 'She runs like a deer' and 'He's as white as a sheet' contain similes. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Similitude, comparison, metaphor.

Moby Thesaurus

accordance, affinity, agreement, alikeness, allegory, alliance, alliteration, allusion, anacoluthon, anadiplosis, analogy, anaphora, anastrophe, antiphrasis, antithesis, antonomasia, aping, apophasis, aporia, aposiopesis, apostrophe, approach, approximation, assimilation, balancing, catachresis, chiasmus, circumlocution, climax, closeness, community, comparability, comparative anatomy, comparative degree, comparative grammar, comparative judgment, comparative linguistics, comparative literature, comparative method, compare, comparing, comparison, conformity, confrontation, confrontment, contrast, contrastiveness, conversion, copying, correlation, correspondence, distinction, distinctiveness, ecphonesis, emphasis, exclamation, gemination, hypallage, hyperbaton, hyperbole, identity, imitation, inversion, irony, likeness, likening, litotes, malapropism, matching, meiosis, metaphor, metonymy, mimicking, nearness, onomatopoeia, opposing, opposition, oxymoron, parallelism, paregmenon, parenthesis, parity, periphrasis, personification, pleonasm, preterition, prolepsis, proportion, regression, relation, repetition, resemblance, sameness, sarcasm, semblance, similarity, similitude, simulation, spoonerism, syllepsis, symploce, synecdoche, trope of comparison, weighing, zeugma