Similes and Metaphors | Britannica Dictionary (2024)

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Similes and Metaphors | Britannica Dictionary? ›

A simile says that one thing "is like" or "is as … as" another thing. A metaphor says that one thing "is" another thing. Metaphors do not use the words "like" or "as" in their comparisons. Here are some examples of similes: Life is like a box of chocolates.

A simile is a comparison between two things that uses the word like or as: Her smile is as bright as sunshine. A metaphor is a direct comparison between two things that does not use like or as: Her smile is sunshine.

Give some examples of metaphors.

Everyone waited eagerly for her to come up on stage. My mom has a heart of gold. My friend's sister, Sharon, is a night owl. My hands were icicles because of the cold weather.

A metaphor makes a comparison by stating that one thing is something else, but a simile states that one thing is like something else. If you're trying to tell the difference between metaphors and similes, the more obvious comparison in similes makes them easier to identify as figures of speech.

Other examples of common metaphors are “night owl”, “cold feet”, “beat a dead horse”, “early bird”, “couch potato”, “eyes were fireflies”, “apple of my eye”, “heart of stone”, “heart of a lion”, “roller coaster of emotions”, and “heart of gold.”

In his book, Images of Organization, Gareth Morgan lays out eight metaphors for an organization: machines, organisms, brains, cultural systems, political systems, psychic prisons, instruments of domination, and flux and transformation.

When I say, “Dude, I'm drowning in work,” I'm using qualities associated with one thing—the urgency and helplessness of drowning—to convey meaning for another thing—the work I've got to do. Metaphors are everywhere: He's a couch potato. She's got a heart of gold. That party was the bomb.

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase denoting one kind of object or action is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them: the person being addressed in "you're a peach" is being equated with a peach, with the suggestion being that the person is pleasing or delightful in ...

These include metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, alliteration, assonance, consonance, anaphora, oxymoron, metonymy/synecdoche/kenning/antanaclasis/epithet/euphemism/onomatopoeia/antimetabole, paronomasia, litotes, paradox, irony and pun.

What is the 7 figurative language? ›

Types of Figurative Language:

Metaphor Paradox. Alliteration Litotes. Personification Oxymoron. Onomatopoeia Synecdoche. Hyperbole Symbolism.

Some common figures of speech are alliteration, anaphora, antimetabole, antithesis, apostrophe, assonance, hyperbole, irony, metonymy, onomatopoeia, paradox, personification, pun, simile, synecdoche, and understatement.