as in metaphor
grammar
a phrase that uses the words like or as to describe someone or something by comparing it with someone or something else that is similar
"She's as fierce as a tiger" is a simile, but "She's a tiger when she's angry" is a metaphor.
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Recent Examples of simile
No metaphors or similes or hyperbolic language needed here – your kids are next.
—
Rob Gagnon, Hartford Courant, 25 Mar. 2025
Her father was a scientist and worked for NASA, so her work, including The Body’s Question and Life on Mars, is infused with the cosmos and space and all these metaphors and similes tied to the most mysterious places in the universe.
—Lisa Wong MacAbasco, Vogue, 22 Feb. 2025
Fight analyst Dan Hardy used an interesting simile to explain the key difference between the two title fighters in Saturday night's main event at UFC 312 as middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis puts his title on the line against former champion Sean Strickland.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025
This is what Thadeus loves: a test of his store of poetic similes, even if, these days, his poetry-writing is notional.
—Han Ong, The New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for simile
Rob Gagnon, Hartford Courant, 25 Mar. 2025
Her father was a scientist and worked for NASA, so her work, including The Body’s Question and Life on Mars, is infused with the cosmos and space and all these metaphors and similes tied to the most mysterious places in the universe.
—Lisa Wong MacAbasco, Vogue, 22 Feb. 2025
Fight analyst Dan Hardy used an interesting simile to explain the key difference between the two title fighters in Saturday night's main event at UFC 312 as middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis puts his title on the line against former champion Sean Strickland.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025
This is what Thadeus loves: a test of his store of poetic similes, even if, these days, his poetry-writing is notional.
—Han Ong, The New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for simile
Recent Examples of Synonyms for simile
metaphor
Noun
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Applied to a police chase, the metaphor means the officers who initiated the pursuit are responsible for its results.—
Gregory Royal Pratt,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Mar. 2026
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The shriek of mourning is not a metaphor but an ongoing condition the medium makes material.—
Anel Rakhimzhanova,
Artforum,
1 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Simile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/simile. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.
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