simile means A figure of speech in which one thing is explicitly compared to another, using e.g. like or as. It carries an Arena rating of 1591, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, simile ranks #798 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #2,758 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,890 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #5,446 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
simile is pronounced /ˈsɪməli/.
Why “simile” is a great word
A figure of speech in which one thing is explicitly compared to another, typically using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. From Latin simile ("comparison, likeness, parallel"), the neuter form of similis ("like, similar"). First attested in English circa 1393. Unlike metaphor, which declares a thing *is* another in an act of identity, or analogy, which constructs a scaffold of logical resemblance, a simile remains a tentative bridge, a conscious act of likening. It is the sun like a tarnished coin, love as relentless as gravity, a life stretching out as flat and empty as a salt pan. It is the mind’s gentle protest against the isolation of objects, forever searching—and always acknowledging the search—for kinship in a disparate world.
Etymology
From Latin simile (“comparison, likeness, parallel”) (first attested 1393), originally from simile, neuter form of similis (“like, similar, resembling”). Compare English similar.
noun
- A figure of speech in which one thing is explicitly compared to another, using e.g. like or as.
- Similarity or resemblance to something else; likeness, similitude.
- Something similar that's not a clone.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- similize 65% match — To liken; to compare. vs simile →
- metaphor 65% match — The use of a word, phrase, concept, or set of concepts to refer to something other than its literal meaning, invoking an implicit similarity between the thing described and what is denoted by the word, etc., that is used. vs simile →
- similatively 61% match — In a similative manner. vs simile →
- similative 58% match — Implying or indicating likeness or resemblance. vs simile →
- similary 57% match — Similar. vs simile →
- syllepsis 56% match — A figure of speech in which one word simultaneously modifies two or more other words such that the modification must be understood differently with respect to each modified word; often causing humorous incongruity. vs simile →
- dissimile 54% match — Comparison or illustration by contraries. vs simile →
- likening 54% match — The act by which things are likened; a comparison. vs simile →