Simile Examples: 200+ Similes by Category

A simile is a comparison that uses “like” or “as” – “cold as ice,” “runs like the wind,” “sleeps like a log.” You’ve been using them your whole life. This page is 200+ of them, sorted by category, so you can steal whichever one fits what you’re writing.

If you want to understand the difference between a simile and a metaphor, there’s a separate page for that. This one is for people who already know what a simile is and just need good examples, fast.

The Classics You’ve Heard A Thousand Times

The greatest hits. Every one of these is so worn-in that it borders on cliche, which is also why they work in everyday speech – everyone knows exactly what you mean.

As cold as ice
As blind as a bat
As busy as a bee
As light as a feather
As strong as an ox
As stubborn as a mule
As quiet as a mouse
As brave as a lion
As slow as molasses
As sly as a fox
As clean as a whistle
As cool as a cucumber
As happy as a clam
As good as gold
As right as rain
Sleeps like a log
Fought like cats and dogs
Runs like the wind
Cries like a baby
Eats like a horse

Similes About Appearance

As pale as a ghost
As red as a beet
As white as a sheet
As tall as a tree
As pretty as a picture
As ugly as sin
As round as a ball
As flat as a pancake
As thin as a rake
Built like a tank
Eyes like a hawk
Skin like porcelain

Browse more: pale similes, red similes, tall similes.

Similes About Emotion

As mad as a hornet
As happy as a lark
As jealous as a jilted lover
As scared as a rabbit
As sad as a funeral
As nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs
As proud as a peacock
As guilty as sin
Cried like a baby
Laughed like a hyena
Shook like a leaf
Trembled like a frightened child

Browse more: happy similes, angry similes, jealous similes, sad similes.

Similes About Speed

As fast as lightning
As quick as a wink
Runs like the wind
Faster than a speeding bullet
Slow as a snail
Slow as molasses in January
Slow as cold tar
Moves like a sloth
Took off like a shot
Bolted like a racehorse

Browse more: fast similes, slow similes, quick similes.

Similes About Size

As big as a house
As small as a mouse
As tiny as a grain of sand
As huge as a mountain
As little as a pea
As wide as the ocean
As narrow as a pin

Similes About Silence And Sound

As silent as the grave
As quiet as a church mouse
As loud as a jet engine
As noisy as a herd of elephants
As loud as thunder
Screamed like a banshee
Whispered like a secret
Hummed like a tuning fork

Browse more: silent similes, quiet similes, loud similes.

Similes About Intelligence (And Lack Thereof)

As smart as a whip
As sharp as a tack
As wise as an owl
As dumb as a rock
As thick as two short planks
As clever as a fox
About as bright as a burnt-out bulb
A few sandwiches short of a picnic

Browse more: smart similes, clever similes.

Similes About Strength And Weakness

As strong as an ox
As tough as nails
As solid as a rock
As weak as a kitten
As brittle as glass
As fragile as an eggshell
Crumbled like a house of cards
Built like a brick wall

Browse more: strong similes, weak similes, tough similes.

Similes About Cold And Heat

As cold as ice
As cold as a witch’s tit
As cold as the grave
As hot as a sauna
As hot as the devil’s kitchen
Hotter than a two-dollar pistol
As warm as toast
Freezing like Antarctica

Browse more: cold similes, hot similes, warm similes.

Similes About Taste And Smell

As sweet as honey
As sour as a lemon
As bitter as gall
As bland as cardboard
Stinks like a sewer
Smells like a rose
As fresh as a daisy

Similes About Behavior

Acts like a clown
Behaves like royalty
Drinks like a fish
Eats like a pig
Smokes like a chimney
Sleeps like the dead
Fights like a cornered rat
Dances like nobody’s watching

Similes From Literature

Real ones, from actual books, where the author didn’t reach for the obvious comparison.

“Life is like a box of chocolates.” – Forrest Gump (pop-culture classic; also gets classified as proverb)
“My heart is like a singing bird.” – Christina Rossetti, A Birthday
“The air smelled sharp as new-cut wood, slicing low over the frozen road.” – Annie Proulx, Close Range
“Her mouth was a fountain of delight.” – Kate Chopin, The Awakening (technically a metaphor – close cousin)
“The water made a sound like kittens lapping.” – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, The Yearling
“He holds him with his glittering eye.” – Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
“She looked at him the way a sparrow looks at a snake.” – various; now standard
“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” – William Gibson, Neuromancer (metaphor, but one everyone cites when they talk about similes, so here it is)

Funny Similes

The best similes are the ones that compare two things you’d never put together, then make you agree it works.

As useless as a chocolate teapot
As useful as a screen door on a submarine
As subtle as a brick through a window
As welcome as a skunk at a lawn party
About as graceful as a giraffe on ice skates
As lost as a fart in a fan factory
As nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs
As confused as a goat on AstroTurf

Similes For Kids

Clean, short, and easy for a third-grader to picture. Good for homework, classroom writing, and anyone teaching similes for the first time.

As busy as a bee
As cute as a button
As hungry as a bear
As happy as a puppy
As bright as the sun
As soft as a pillow
As fluffy as a cloud
As bouncy as a ball
Sleeps like a baby
Runs like a rabbit

How To Write A Good Simile

Three rules, in order of importance:

Make it specific. “He was like a tree” is lazy. “He was like a pine snapped off at the waist in a storm” is a simile. Details do the work.
Make the comparison earn its keep. If the reader could have pictured the thing without the comparison, you didn’t need the simile. Cut it.
Avoid the hall of fame. “Cold as ice” and “quiet as a mouse” are fine in dialogue. In prose, they’re dead weight. Readers skip them because they’ve seen them a thousand times. Swap in something unexpected or leave it out.

One bonus rule: don’t stack them. Two similes in the same paragraph fight each other. Pick the better one and delete the other.

Keep Browsing

This page skims the surface. The full collection on this site runs to several thousand similes organized by keyword – if you’re hunting for a simile about something specific, your fastest path is probably the homepage or one of the keyword pages above. Common starting points: cold, hot, silent, fast, smart, dumb, happy, angry.

Or if you’re still shaky on the theory: simile vs metaphor, explained properly.