Similes, Metaphors, Idioms and Other Figurative Language

Figurative language says something other than its literal meaning to create a picture, a feeling or an emphasis. When you say a test was a breeze, nobody expects weather. Figures of speech make writing vivid and memorable, and they're everywhere: in songs, adverts, headlines and crossword clues.

Simile

A simile compares two different things using like or as:

• Her mind was as sharp as a tack.
• The tiles clattered like hailstones on a tin roof.

Because the comparison is spelled out, similes feel gentler and clearer than metaphors.

Metaphor

A metaphor makes the comparison directly, saying one thing is another:

• The classroom was a zoo.
• Time is a thief.
• She has a heart of gold.

An extended metaphor carries the comparison through several sentences or a whole poem. A mixed metaphor clumsily combines two images, as in we'll burn that bridge when we come to it, and is usually best avoided unless you're joking.

Simile or metaphor? A quick test

If the sentence contains like or as doing the comparing, it's a simile. If it claims one thing simply is the other, it's a metaphor. He runs like the wind (simile) vs He is the wind on the track (metaphor).

Personification

Personification gives human actions or feelings to animals, objects or ideas:

• The wind howled through the night.
• Opportunity knocked.
• My phone died just before the final question.

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration for emphasis or humour. Nobody takes it literally:

• I've told you a million times.
• This bag weighs a ton.
• I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.

The opposite device, understatement, makes something sound smaller than it is: calling a hurricane a bit of wind.

Idiom

An idiom is a fixed phrase whose meaning isn't the sum of its words. You have to learn them as units:

Idioms are a big hurdle for English learners and a favourite source of crossword and quiz clues. Many started as literal descriptions: learning the ropes originally meant learning to handle a sailing ship's rigging.

Alliteration

Alliteration repeats the same consonant sound at the start of nearby words. It makes phrases catchy, which is why brands and headlines love it:

• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
• Busy as a bee, dead as a doornail.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it describes: buzz, sizzle, crash, hiss, whoosh, cuckoo. Comics are full of them. Many are valid in word games, too. ZAP, FIZZ and BUZZ all score well because of their Z.

Other figures worth knowing

• Oxymoron: two contradictory words side by side, as in deafening silence, bittersweet, jumbo shrimp.
• Irony: saying the opposite of what you mean, or a situation that turns out the opposite of what's expected.
• Pun: wordplay that exploits a word's double meaning. I used to be a banker, but I lost interest. Cryptic crosswords are built on puns.
• Euphemism: a softer word for something unpleasant, like passed away for died.

Practice quiz