simile
A figure of speech in which one thing is explicitly compared to another, using e.gA figure of speech in which one thing is explicitly compared to another, using e.g. like or as.
» Can't we use a simile here?
shekitten · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
3 senses(countable, rhetoric, uncountable)A figure of speech in which one thing is explicitly compared to another, using e.g. like or as.
Vergleich, Gleichnis
сравне́ниеsravnénije
порі́внянняporívnjannja
a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with ‘like’ or ‘as’)
(countable, uncountable)Similarity or resemblance to something else; likeness, similitude.
(countable, uncountable)Something similar that's not a clone.
Examples
3 sentencesCan't we use a simile here?
A simile is like a bridge.
deEin Vergleich ist wie eine Brücke. — merikilpikonna · CC BY 2.0 FR
Not only Orientals love metaphors and similes.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Latin simile (“comparison, likeness, parallel”) (first attested 1393), originally froFrom Latin simile (“comparison, likeness, parallel”) (first attested 1393), originally from simile, neuter form of similis (“like, similar, resembling”). Compare English similar.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: similes / similiaAntonyms
1 antonymsWord family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A1Plural nouns — Because its plural is irregular
- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.