simile

CEFRC2

/ˈsɪməli/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A comparison using like or as.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Similarity or resemblance to something else; likeness, similitude.

Examples

  • A simile is like a bridge.

  • Can't we use a simile here?

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4

Also pronounced

  • /-li/
  • /-lɪ/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Something similar that's not a clone.

  2. A figure of speech in which one thing is explicitly compared to another, using e.g. like or as.

More examples

In context

  • The second was a fancy, which amounts to a mania, for similes, strung together in endless lists, and derived as a rule from animals, vegetables, or minerals, especially from the Fauna and Flora of fancy.

  • He made a simile of George the third to Nebuchadnezzar, and of the prince regent to Belshazzar, and insisted that the prince represented the latter in not paying much attention to what had happened to kings […]

  • My father is a quiet man / With sober, steady ways; / For simile, a folded fan; / His nights are like his days.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In poetry, a blank is used when you say 'her eyes are like stars' to create an image.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Latin simile (“comparison, likeness, parallel”) (first attested 1393), originally from simile, neuter form of similis (“like, similar, resembling”). Compare English similar.