Language Arts Similes are an example of figurative language, a phrase or expression that uses language in a non-literal way. This article provides examples of similes as well as some ideas on how to make your own simile new and fresh.
Similes are one type of figure of speech. Other examples of figurative speech include metaphors, synechdoche, and hyperbole. Similes use the comparative words like or as to juxtapose two things that are essentially unlike and point to a particular facet or element that they share.
Why Use Similes?
The point of figurative language, consciously employed, is to enliven prose and to engage one's audience. The fresh aspect of a new simile can bring focus to what is being expressed, as the reader or listener has to actively work out the meaning because it's a) new and b) not literal. Here's an example:
- His steady gaze was like the rapt look of an eagle spotting its prey.
or
- His steady gaze was as rapt as the look of an eagle spotting its prey.
In both these sentences the person's “gaze” is being compared to the eagle's look as it hunts. Though people and eagles are fundamentally different, a point of comparison has been found in the intensity and perhaps the deadly intention behind this particular gaze.
When Similes Grow Old
One problem is that when people are encouraged to enliven their writing with similes, they tend to choose existing similes that others have thought of and have become common in English. If this choice is made, the language will not have the benefit of being fresh, nor will it be engaging, since it is already a known quantity.
The fact is, many, many existing similes have actually become clichés, trite expressions that are so familiar that they may not only have lost effect but also suggest a lack of inventiveness and freshness - just the impressions that writers who employ similes are usually trying to avoid. Here is a list of some of the most common clichéd similes with as:
As black as coal
As blind as a bat
As bold as brass
As bright as day
As busy as a bee
As clean as a hound's tooth
As clear as crystal
As cold as ice
As cool as a cucumber
As crazy as a loon
As cute as a button
As dead as a doornail
As deaf as a post
As dry as dust
As dull as dishwater
As easy as pie
As fit as a fiddle
As flat as a pancake
As free as a bird
As fresh as a daisy
As good as gold
As happy as a lark
As hard as nails
As high as a kite
As hungry as a bear
As light as a feather
As mad as a hornet
As neat as a pin
As nutty as a fruitcake
As old as the hills
As patient as Job
As plain as day
As pleased as Punch
As poor as a church mouse
As pretty as a picture
As proud as a peacock
As quick as a wink
As right as rain
As safe as houses
As scarce as hen's teeth
As sick as a dog
As silent as the grave
As slippery as an eel
As slow as molasses
As sly as a fox
As smooth as silk
As snug as a bug in a rug
As sober as a judge
As soft as a baby's bottom
As stiff as a board
As straight as an arrow
As strong as an ox
As stubborn as a mule
As tough as nails
As white as a ghost
As wise as an owl
It is likely that you will recognize most, if not all, of these similes. And once you have taken this point, you open up the possibility of avoiding the problem of clichéd similes by inventing new similes of your own.
Even a slight change - using a synonym of the first term or referring to a different quality of the second - may be enough to give the simile new life. What about:
- as joyful as a lark
- as focused as a bee
- as enraged as a hornet
These may not be the finest uses of language you ever met, but small changes have, at least, taken them out of the category of cliché.