Similes

A simile compares one thing with another, using like or as … as, to help the reader picture it: as brave as a lion, She ran like the wind. Ask what two things are compared and what they have in common.

Key facts

  • Simile with like: She ran like the wind. With as … as: as cold as ice, as light as a feather.
  • Ask: what two things are compared, and what do they have in common? The lake was as smooth as glass.: the lake and glass, both smooth and shiny.
  • Not every like is a simile: I like apples. is not a comparison.
  • The effect: a simile gives a clear picture in a few words: as light as a feather shows how light something is.

Worked examples

Example 1

Simile or metaphor? His hands were as cold as ice.

  1. It uses as … as to compare his hands with ice.
  2. So it is a simile.

Answer: simile

Example 2

Complete the simile: as busy as a ___

  1. Bees fly from flower to flower all day.
  2. as busy as a bee

Answer: bee

Example 3

Find the simile: The baby's skin was as soft as silk.

  1. A simile compares using like or as … as.
  2. as soft as silk compares the baby's skin with silk.

Answer: as soft as silk

Example 4

What two things are compared? Her eyes sparkled like diamonds.

  1. The word like joins the two things: her eyes and diamonds.
  2. They have this in common: both sparkle and shine.

Answer: her eyes and diamonds: both sparkle and shine

Example 5

Write a simile to describe a very fast runner.

  1. Think of something everyone knows is fast: a cheetah, the wind, a rocket.
  2. Join it with like or as … as: He ran like a cheetah chasing its dinner.

Answer: He ran like a cheetah chasing its dinner.

Example 6

Explain the effect of the simile: The news spread like fire through dry grass.

  1. What is compared? News and fire.
  2. What do they share? Both spread quickly and are hard to stop.

Answer: It shows the news spread very fast and could not be stopped, as fire does in dry grass.