Similes

By Madhura on April 10, 2023 • ( Leave a comment )

In 2001-02, when I was in the 9th grade, our high school English teacher made us write down hundreds of Similes (a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more vivid). I have treasured the list ever since. Written down on printing paper from the 2000s (if you remember the perforations on either side), it’s all frail and worn out today. I wanted to save not just the knowledge but sweet high school memories and pass them on as a legacy to my child. Thanks to the digital world, it’s preserved for eternity, both the typed version and the photographs. I will figure out a way to save the handwritten list (shall we take a moment to appreciate the handwriting here? )

I don’t know which book my teacher referred to give due credit, but I will not fail to remember, thank, and give credit to Mrs. BKN. Also, to my brother who took just about THREE years to find this manuscript!

A’s

As afraid as a grasshopper
As agile as a cat
As alert as a chamois
As ambitious as the devil
As ancient as the sun
As angry as a pismire
As angry as a wasp
As audacious as the day
As awful as thunder
As awful as silence
As awkward as a cow on ice

B’s

As bald as a coot
As bald as an egg
As bare as a stone
As big as an elephant
As big as a whale
As bitter as wormwood
As bitter as gall
As black as coal
As black as a crow
As black as the devil
As black as ink
As black as jet
As black as pitch
As black as soot
As black as thunder
As black as a bat
As blind as a beetle
As blind as a harper
As blind as a mole
As blunt as a hammer
As bold as brass
As bold as a lion
As boundless as the ocean
As brave as a lion
As bright as day
As bright as noonday
As bright as the light
As bright as silver
As brisk as the flea
As brittle as glass
As brown as a berry
As brown as a bun
As busy as a bee
As busy as a hen with one chicken

C’s

As calm as death
As careless as the wind
As cautious as a fox
As certain as the rising of the morning sun
As changeable as the moon
As changeable as the weathercock
As chaste as Minerva
As chaste as a lily
As cheap as dirt
As cheap as lies
As cheerful as a lark
As cheerless as a grave
As clean as Dutch Oven
As clean as a whistle
As clear as a bell
As clear as crystal
As clear as daylight
As clear as noonday
As close as wax
As clumsy as a bear
As coarse as fustian
As cold as charity
As cold as a frog
As cold as ice
As cold as a key
As cold as a marble
As cold as a stone
As comely as a cow in a cage
As common as a barber’s chair
As common as poverty
As common as dirt
As complacent as a cat
As confident as justice
As conscientious as a dog
As cool as a cucumber
As countless as the stars
As countless as hairs
As cowardly as a wild duck
As crooked as a corkscrew
As crooked as Crawley Brook
AS cross as a bear with a sore head
As cross as two sticks
As cross as the tongs
As cruel as Media
As cruel as death
As cunning as a fox

D’s

As dark as midnight
As dark as pitch
As dark as the night
As dead as a door-nail
As dead as a herring
As dead as mutton
As dead as Queen Anne
As deaf as an adder
As deaf as a beetle
As deaf as a post
As deep as the sea
As delicious as a forbidden fruit
As dirty as a hog
As dismal as a hearse
As distant as the horizon
As dreary as an Asian steppe
As drunk as a beggar
As drunk as a fiddler
As drunk as a fish
As drunk as a lord
As drunk as Davis’s sow
As dry as a biscuit
As dry as a bone
As dry as dust
As dry as a stick
As dull as ditch water
As dull as lead
As dumb as an oyster
As dumb as a statue

E’s

As easy as ABC
As easy as lying
As easy as pie
As easy as pot
As eloquent as cicero
As elusive as quicksilver
As empty as space

F’s

As fabulous as Aladdin’s ring
As fair as a rose
As faithful as the dog
As false as hell
As familiar as an oath
As fast as a storm
As fast as a hare
As fast as butter
As fast as light
As fat as a hen in the forehead
As fat as a pig
As fearful as Plutus
As fickle as the weather
As fierce as a famished wolf
As fierce as a tiger
As firm as a rock
As firm as steel
As fit as a fiddle
As fixes as fate
As flat as a board
As flat as flounder
As flat as a pancake
As fleet as a deer
As fleet as a greyhound
As fleet as the wind
As foolish as a calf
As free as a bird in air
As free as thought
As free as the wind
As fresh as a daisy
As fresh as dew
As fresh as a rose
As fresh as new paint
As friendly as a puppy
As frisky as a colt

G’s

As gaudy as a butterfly
As gaudy as a peacock
As gay as lark
As gay as the spring
As generous as a lord
As gentle as a dove
As gentle as a fawn
As gentle as a lamb
As glad as a fly
As gloomy as night
As glum as an oyster
As good as gold (valuable)
As good as a play (amusing)
As gorgeous as the Heavens
As graceful as a swan
As grave as a judge
As greedy as a wolf
As green as grass
As grim as death
As gruff as a bear

H’s

As happy as a lark
As happy as a lord
As hard as flint
As hard as nails
As hard as steel
As hard as a stone
As harmless as a dove
As harsh as a grating wheel
As hateful as hell
As healthy as a May morning
As helpless as a baby
As heavy as lead
As hoarse as a crow
As hollow as a drum
As honest as a mirror
As hot as fire
As hot as pepper
As hot as molten lead
As hungry as a dog
As hungry as a bear
As hungry as the grave
As hungry as a hunter

I’s

As ignorant as a child
As immaterial as a ghost
As immense as the sea
As immortal as the stars
As industrious as an ant
As inevitable as death
As innocent as a dove

J’s

As jealous as a Spaniard
As jolly as a sandboy
As joyful as a fly
As just as a square (Exact)

K’s

As keen as hunger
As keen as a razor

L’s

As large as life
As lasting as the pyramids
As lazy as a lobster
As lazy as a toad
As lean as a lath
As lean as a rake
As lean as a skeleton
As light as air
As light as a feather
As light as a fly
As light as thistledown
As like as two drops of water
As like as two peas in a pod
As loose as a rope of sand
As loud as thunder
As lowly as a slave

M’s

As mad as Ajax
As mad as a hatter
As mad as a March hare
As malicious as Satan
As mean as a miser
As meek as a lamb
As melancholy as a cat
As merry as a cricket
As merry as a lark
As merry as spring
As mischievous as a cartload of monkeys
As modest as a primrose
As monotonous as the sea
As mute as a fish
As mute as a mackerel

N’s

As naked as a needle
As naked as a robin
As near as bark to tree
As nearsighted as a mole
As neat as a new pin
As nervous as a mouse
As noisy as a menagerie

O’s

As obstinate as a mule
As old as the hills
As old as Methuselah
As old as time
As opaque as the sky

P’s

As pale as death
As pale as a ghost
As patient as Job
As patient as an ox
As peaceful as sleep
As plain as a pikestaff
As plain as the nose on a man’s face
As playful as a kitten
As pleased as Punch
As plentiful as blackberries
As plump as a partridge
As poor as a church mouse
As poor as Job
As poor as Lazarus
As proud as a peacock
As proud as Lucifer
As pure as a lily

Q’s

As quick as lightning
As quick as thought
As quiet as a mouse

R’s

As ravenous as a winter wolf
As red as a cherry
As red as a rose
As red as blood
As red as fire
As regular as clockwork
As restless as the sea
As rich as Croesus
As right as a trivet
As right as rain
As ripe as a cherry
As round as a ball
As round as a globe

S’

As sacred as a shrine
As safe as a thief in the mill
As safe as the bank
As salt as brine
As salt as a herring
As selfish as s fox
As senseless as stones
As shallow as a pan
As sharp as a needle
As sharp as a razor
As sharp as a thistle
As shy as the squirrel
As silent as the dead
As silent as the grave
As silent as the stars
As silly as a goose
As silly as a sheep
As slender as gossamer
As slippery as an eel
As sly as a fox
As smooth as glass
As smooth as velvet
As smooth as a baby’s bottom
As sober as a judge
As soft as butter
As soft as down
As soft as silk
As sound as a bell
As sour as vinegar
As steady as a rock
As stiff as a poker
As stiff as a post
As still as death
As still as the grave
As straight as a die
As straight as a lance
As strong as a horse
As strong as a lion
As strong as an ox
As strong as Hercules
As stupid as a donkey
As stupid as a log
As supple as a snake
As sure as death
As sure as fate
As sure as a gun
As sure as eggs is eggs
As surely as a bear
As sweet as honey
As sweet as sugar
As sweet as a song
As swift as an arrow
As swift as lightning
As swift as thought
As swift as the wind

T’s

As talkative as a magpie
As tall as a maypole
As tall as a steeple
As tame as a cat
As tame as a sheep
As tender as a chicken
As terrible as Jove
As thick as a cable
As thick as hailstones
As thick as two thieves
As thin as a wafer
As thin as a rake
As timid as a mouse
As tough as leather
As tough as nails
As transparent as glass
As tricky as a monkey
As true as steel
As true as the gospel
As true as a turtle to her mate

U’s

As ugly as a scarecrow
As ugly as a toad
As ugly as a sin
As uncertain as the weather
As unfeeling as rocks
As unreal as a dream
As unstable as water
As upright as a tower

V’s

As vague as futurity
As vain as a peacock
As vast as eternity
As voracious as a camel

W’s

As warm as wool
As watchful as a hawk
As wavering as Hamlet
AS weak as a kitten
As weak as a baby
As weak as water
As wet as a drowned rat
As white as snow
As white as a ghost
As white as a sheet
As white as a lily
As wise as Solomon
As wise as a serpent
As wise as an owl

Y’s

As yellow as saffron
As yellow as a guinea
As yielding as wax

Taking different shapes

To spread like wildfire
To follow like a shadow
To sing like a nightingale
To sleep like a top
To drink like a fish
To blush like a black dog
To shake like an aspen leaf
To run like a deer
To melt like wax
To sell like hot cakes
To grin like a Cheshire cat
To fight like Kilkenny cats
To flourish like a green bay tree
To hang on like grim death
To beat one like a stock fish
To talk to one like a Dutch uncle
To be packed like sardines

Categories: Treasure Trove

Tagged as: English, English Grammar, Similes

Life Outside the Cubicle

Goodreads

Similes

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Goodreads

Similes

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