Simile examples
A simile makes a figurative comparison using like, as or as if. The image gives a familiar shape to a feeling, sound, or experience.
Featured example
The instructions were like a jigsaw with half the pieces missing.
- Comparison: like a jigsaw with half the pieces missing
Someone trying to assemble furniture from incomplete instructions.
Look inside the comparison
- What we are talking about
- the incomplete instructions
- The image
- a jigsaw with missing pieces
- The connection
- necessary parts missing from a whole
In plain words: The instructions left out information needed to complete the task.
When it is not a simile
“I like listening to the radio while I cook.”
Someone stating what they enjoy doing while preparing food.
What to notice“Like” expresses enjoyment. It does not compare the radio or cooking with a figurative image.
“As the train arrived, we picked up our bags.”
Someone describing when they got ready to board a train.
What to notice“As” means “while” here. It connects events in time and makes no figurative comparison.
“The spare button looks like the ones already on the coat.”
Someone checking that a replacement button has the same design as the real buttons on a coat.
What to noticeThis is a literal comparison of actual buttons with the same design. “Looks like” does not automatically make a simile.
“The replacement cable is as long as the old one: one meter.”
Someone has measured two real cables and found that each is one meter long.
What to notice“As long as” compares two actual measured lengths. There is no figurative image or imaginative comparison.
“It looks as if it will rain before lunch.”
Someone checking the sky before a picnic.
What to notice“As if” here means “it seems that”. It predicts the weather; nothing is compared, so there is no simile.
More simile examples
11 more original linesThe fridge hummed like a distant motorbike all night.
- Comparison: like a distant motorbike
Someone describing a persistent appliance noise in an otherwise quiet flat.
What it meansThe fridge made a low, continuous mechanical noise.
Image: a distant motorbike
The cracks on my old tablet looked like a spider’s web.
- Comparison: like a spider’s web
Someone showing the branching cracks across a damaged screen.
What it meansThe cracks formed a network of thin, connected lines.
Image: a spider’s web
The ending felt as though a trapdoor had opened beneath me.
- Comparison: as though a trapdoor opened
A reader describes an unexpected ending that changed their understanding of a story.
What it meansThe ending was sudden and unsettling.
Image: a trapdoor unexpectedly opening beneath someone
After two reheats, the rice was as dry as sawdust.
- Comparison: as dry as sawdust
Someone describing the texture of leftover rice.
What it meansThe reheated rice was unpleasantly dry.
Image: sawdust
I read the reminder and sat up as if someone had splashed cold water on my face.
- Comparison: as if splashed with cold water
Someone had forgotten an approaching deadline until a message brought it to their attention.
What it meansThe reminder abruptly made the person alert to something they needed to do.
Image: a cold splash of water on the face
Moving the sofa through the doorway was like solving a puzzle.
- Comparison: like solving a puzzle
Someone describing the trial and adjustment needed to get a large sofa into a room.
What it meansThey had to work out the right position and sequence of movements.
Image: solving a puzzle
By the end of the walk, my boots felt as heavy as buckets of wet sand.
- Comparison: as heavy as buckets of wet sand
A tired walker exaggerates how difficult it felt to lift their feet.
What it meansThe speaker was tired, and lifting their boots felt unusually difficult.
Image: buckets of wet sand
The waiting room was silent as a paused video.
- Comparison: silent as a paused video
Someone describing a room where no one was speaking and there was no noticeable background sound.
What it meansThe waiting room was extremely quiet.
Image: a paused video
While I was working, each notification felt like a tap on the shoulder.
- Comparison: like a tap on the shoulder
Someone describing repeated alerts that interrupted their attention.
What it meansEach alert drew the person’s attention away from their work.
Image: a tap on the shoulder
Like a tiny shadow, my niece followed me around all day.
- Comparison: like a tiny shadow
Someone describing a child who stayed close beside them during a family visit.
What it meansThe niece stayed close and went wherever the speaker went.
Image: a tiny shadow
After three video calls, I felt like a phone on one per cent.
- Comparison: like a phone on one per cent
Someone describing how little energy they felt they had left after several calls.
What it meansThe speaker felt almost out of energy.
Image: a phone with one per cent battery charge