51 Great Similes to Spark Imagination
I love similes. They say more in 5-10 words than a whole paragraph. They are like spice to a stew, or perfume to an evening out. They evoke images far beyond the range of words.
Reading good similes and metaphors is like reading tomorrow's stock report a day early
Simile–the comparison of two unlike things using the word 'like' or 'as'. As bald as a newborn babe. As blind as a bat. As white as snow.
Wait–no self-respecting writer would use those. Similes are as much about displaying the writer's facility with her/his craft as communicating. We are challenged to come up with new comparisons no one has heard before. I've seen contests on writer's blogs for similes and most leave me bored, if not disgusted. It's harder than it looks to create a simile that works. Look at these I found on G :
#1 – Being with him was like sitting through a Twilight Marathon, all sparkles and self-loathing.
#2 – She was as nervous as my guinea pig, Mittens, when we turned him loose in the hog-stall last winter. Soon we found out that he wasn't THAT sort of a pig .
#3 – The snow fell like billions of breadcrumbs, promising a flurry of activity and a huge pile of shit in the aftermath .
#4 – Her eyes were as blue as the ink in my pen, that trickled its life's blood gently down the front of my pocket, as I tried in vain to get her attention..
#5 – His hair soared in the wind like a captive egret, finally released into the wild. Not a minute had passed before a passerby made a joke about "if it was truly yours, it'll come back to you…" He punched that person.
OK, there's one more rule about similes: Make them concise. If you look at the tried-and-true ones above, you'll notice they're pithy and quick:
dead as a doornail
blind as a bat
dry as dust
good as gold
They also seem to benefit from alliteration, though that isn't required.
I've started collecting the ones I read that I like, hoping they'll spark my imagination when the need arises. Enjoy these (and the occasional metaphor thrown in):
Stuck out like a leg in a cast, like a dick on a female statue (or, as I've read: like a blue dick on a pig)
Tangled as Grandma's yarn
Like Vulcan Kal-tow
Sense of menace, like the purr of a puma feasting on an elk
As supportive as a good recliner
Like having someone else's shadow
Hung around his neck like a dead skunk
Memories jumped him like muggers in the darkness
when the click of the front door lock behind her sounds like the trumpet of angels
Like putting toothpaste back in the tube
dug in like a tick
set up like a bowling pin (ala Jerry Garcia)
as flexible as a rubber band
fell on me and like mold, grew over the top
on it like a NASCAR pit crew & it disappeared in minutes
change his views like leaves change colors
they melted away like snow from a fire
computers are like dogs; they smell fear
like exchanging stares with a statue
It's good to get up each morning as though your hair were on fire
Belly preceding him like a cowcatcher on a locomotive
like the difference between being thrown from the 15th and 16th floor–they both kill you
that's a stretch like a fat lady in ski pants
looked like a college football player ten years out of shape
waste you like a popsicle on a warm day
stupider than a ball-peen hammer
limp like an uprooted weed
looked like a sunrise, extravagant and full of promise
like air, you never tire of breathing it
more beautiful than a bird dog on point
our troops are the steel in our ship of state
Is your garage like your garden or like your television set?
Like a violin in a marching band
Like a fireman, summoned only when there was trouble
As limp as a French handshake
Wanted to hear bad news like he wanted to remove a bandage—quickly as possible
Collapsed like the French in Algeria
Not unlike a long walk in tight shoes
It's like tinkering with the Titanic
Vanish like my pay check during tax season?
I felt completed, like a plant that has been watered
She was as stiff and unyielding as a lawn chair
She was like a cable stretched too tight and beginning to fray
As subtle as a gun
As much curiosity as a parsnip
Her voice implied sexual desire the way an alto sax implies jazz
as easy to read as a large print Tom Clancy novel
page looks like somebody put it into a blender and hit the Whip button.
The potential for disaster was enormous, like a family picnicking on the train tracks
Like a rabies shot
Winter morning was as bright as a hookers promise and warmer than her heart
Beaming like a full moon
As welcome as a fart in an elevator
Do you have any to share?
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-sixth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, IMS tech expert, and a weekly contributor to Write Anything. Currently, she's editing a thriller for her agent that should be be out to publishers this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: communication, descriptors, humor, words, writers resources, writing Tagged: similes, writing alliteration
