A simile is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things using "like" or "as". It makes a description more vivid by showing how one thing is similar to another thing of a different kind. The document provides examples of common similes using comparisons to animals, objects, activities and qualities (e.g. "as busy as a bee", "sings like a nightingale", "as white as snow"). It also includes fill-in-the-blank similes for readers to complete.

1. Figures of Speech:
Similes

3. What’s a simile?
 A simile is a figure of speech that involves a
comparison of one thing with another thing of a
different kind. The purpose is to make a description
more emphatic or vivid.
 The word simile comes from the Latin
word similis (meaning “a like thing“).
 The simplest form of a simile is: "The [first thing] is
like/as…as a [second thing].“
 For example:
She is as busy as a bee.
She sings like a nightingale.

4. Examples of similes
 Her love is like a red, red _______________.
 She was as brave as a _______________.
 They fought like _______________.
 He is as strong as an _______________.
 The two are as different as _______________.
 The dress fits like a _______________.
 Her love for him is as deep as the _______________.
 I am so thirsty. My throat is as dry as _______________.
 His kind of achievement is as common as _______________.
 His voice is as sweet as _______________.
(adapted from yourdictionary.com)
bone, dirt, rose, ocean, sugar, glove, day and night, ox, cats and dogs, lion

6. Examples of similes
 Her skin is as white as snow/milk.
 The new bed is as hard as a rock/bone.
 The chair is as light as a book/feather.
 The newborn baby is as cute as a duckling/kitten.
 I was as sick as a dog/cat for a week.
 She is as clever as a fox/horse.
 The question was as easy as yogurt/pie.
 He was as quiet as a camel/mouse.
 I felt as fresh as a daisy/lotus after the shower.
 The looks was as old as the river/hills.
 The new housemate is as gentle as a lamb/sheep.
(adapted from english-zone.com)

8. Examples of similes
 to drink like a ________: to drink a lot
 to eat like a ________: to eat very little
 to eat like a ________: to eat a lot
 to eat like a ________: to eat impolitely
 to fight like ________: to fight fiercely
 to sing like an ________: to sing beautifully
 to sleep like a ________: to sleep well and soundly
 to smoke like a ________: to smoke heavily, all the
time
 to soar like an ________: to fly high and free
 to work like a ________: to work very hard

10. Examples of similes
 As ___ as two peas in a pod
 As ___ as a bat.
 As ___ as a pitch.
 As ___ as crystal
 As ___ as a cucumber
 As ___ as a pancake
 As ___ as gold
 As ___ as nails
 As ___ as a bear
 As ___ as a church mouse
 As ___ as a peacock
 alike
 blind
 black
 clear
 cool
 flat
 good
 tough
 hungry
 poor
 proud

11. Examples of similes
 My sister sings like a _______________.
 A woman without a man is like _______________.
 Watching the show was like _______________.
 This shirt was as cheap as _______________.
 My heart is like _______________.
 Our teacher is like _______________.
 Japanese/Arabic/Portuguese sounds like
_______________ to me.
 I love you like _______________.
 This class is like…/as…as _______________.
 Sydney is as _______________.