What does "simile" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "simile"?

Common synonyms include: accordance, affinity, agreement, alikeness, allegory, alliance.

Simile

//ˈsɪməli// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
A figure of speech in which one thing is explicitly compared to another, using e.g. like or as. countable, uncountable
"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 […]"
2
a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with ‘like’ or ‘as’) wordnet
3
Similarity or resemblance to something else; likeness, similitude. countable, uncountable
4
Something similar that's not a clone. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

accordance affinity agreement alikeness allegory alliance

Antonyms

All antonyms

metaphor original dissimile

Example

More examples

"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 […]"

Etymology

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

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.