Idiomatic Similes | List of As... As Similes | Comparison words

A comparison word or an as as simile or an idiomatic simile compares two unlike things having some common characteristics.

Comparison words (or idiomatic similes) are some words (adjectives) used with a noun according to its quality.

Structure:

"... as adjective as noun."

E.g.- He is as happy as a child.

The adjective happy (happiness) is a quality of a child. Actually the happiness of 'He' (subject) is compared with that of 'a child' (noun), meaning, "His happiness is childish."

In almost every exam, we see at least one comparison word asked.

List of Idiomatic Similes:

Similes	Meaning	Context / Reason of Comparison
As alike as two peas.	Similar or identical.	Two peas in a pod resemble each other.
As agile as a cat / monkey.	mentally quick.	-
As alone as a crusoe / leper.	Completely alone.	Robinson Crusoe was alone in the island. Leper – A leprosy patient who is left alone by his family.
As bitter as gall / hemlock.	Very bitter.	Gall – A digestive juice secreted by the liver and stored in gallbladder. Hemlock – A poisonous tree.
As black as coal / ebony / sweep / pitch.	Too black.	Ebony – a sort of tree with black wood. Sweep – chimney sweep.
As blind as a bat.	Completely blind.	A bat can’t see during the day time.
As brave as a lion.	Who is extremely brave.	The lion is the bravest animal.
As bright as a day.	Fully bright.	Day = bright. Night = dark.
As boundless as a sea.	Who / which is totally free.	-
As brisk as a butterfly.	Quick and energetic.	-
As blithe as May.	Who is happy and carefree.	May is a month of summer and thus is a month of happiness.
As boisterous as stormy sea-wind.	Who is uncontrollable.	A stormy sea-wind cannot be controlled or restrained.
As bounteous as nature.	Who is generous.	Nature brings up the human beings.
As brief as a dream / time.	Which is too short	The duration of a dream is very short.
As brittle as glass.	Which can be broken easily.	A glass can be broken easily.
As busy as a bee.	Who is busy all the time.	Bees are always busy doing anything for their survival.
As calm as death.	Totally silent.	A dead body cannot do or say anything.
As candid as mirror.		-
As chaste as Minerva.	Who abstains from unlawful sexual intercourse.	Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom.
As cheap as dirt.	Which has no value at all.	-
As cheerful as a lark.	Extremely cheerful.	A lark is a bird noted for its singing with cheer.
As clear as crystal.	Something which is very clear and thus easily understood.	Crystal – It is a colourless glass made of silica. It can be seen through.
As cold as ice.	Something which is too cold.	-
As cool as a cucumber.	Something which is too cold.	Cucumber is a cold green fruit like melon.
As cunning/ sly/ wily as a fox.	Who is a guileful or a negatively skilful person.	The fox is known as a cunning animal from stories.
As dark as a night.	Completely dark.	Night = dark, Day = bright.
As deaf as a post.	Who is almost deaf or doesn’t pay attention to.	-
As deep as a sea.	-	-
As dry as dust.	Completely dry.	Dust lacks water.
As dumb as a statue.	Who is not saying anything or is indifferent.	A statue cannot speak .
As easy as lying.	Any work that is too easy.	There is nothing easier than lying down.
As empty as space.	Which is completely empty.	Space an empty place even without air.
As expensive as glory.	Which is too expensive	Glory so expensive that it can not be bought, it is achieved.
As fair as rose.	Who is very beautiful.
As far apart as the poles.	Two subjects or objects so far from each other.	On the earth surface the distance between two poles is longer than any other two points.
As fast as a horse / a hare / an eagle / light / storm.	Too fast.	The horse, hare, eagle, storm, light are notable for their speed.
As fat as a pig.	Too fat.	-
As fat/big as an elephant.	Too fat.	An elephant is the largest (fattest) animal.
As firm as a rock.	Determined.
As fierce as a tiger.	Who has extreme and violent energy.	The tiger is known as a fierce animal.
As flat as a board / pancake.	Very thin.	-
As free as air / bird.	Free from physical bondage or mental stress.	Air – it can enter anywhere freely. Bird – a bird can move freely wherever it wants.
As fresh as a daisy / rose.	Full of energy and enthusiasm.	A daisy / rose is often considered as fresh and the symbol of beauty.
As good as gold.	A child who behaves well.	Gold is a precious metal.
As graceful as a fawn.	Who is characterised by the beauty of movement, style, form etc.	A fawn( (a baby deer) is known to have beautiful movement, style, form etc.
As grave as a judge.	Who is too grave.	A judge is always serious (grave) inside the court.
As greedy as a dog / wolf.	Who is very greedy.	We know the story of a dog and a piece of meat.
As green as grass.	Which is totally fresh.
As gentle as a lamb.	Who is tender.	A lamb is believed to be a tender creature.
As happy as a child.	Who is extremely happy	A child has no human sorrow or melancholy.
As hard as a flint / nail / rock.	Which is very hard	-
As harmless as a dove.	Not harmful at all	The dove is considered as an emblem of peace.
As harsh as truth.	Which is not pleasant and thus unwanted.	We always imagine every moment to be a blissful, but the truth always hurt.
As heavy as lead.	Which is too heavy.
As high as heaven / mountain.	Very high.	It is believed that the heaven is there in so high above our head.
As hot as fire / oven.	Something that is very hot.	-
As hoarse as a crow.	Harsh sounding / cacophonic.	The sound of the crow is harsh.
As hungry as a horse / hawk / hunter.	Who is starved.	-
As ignorant as a child.	Who doesn’t have knowledge of any particular subject.	Children are ignorant of the world.
As industrious as an ant.	Who is always busy in hard work.	The ant is the most industrious animal.
As joyful as a fly.		A fly is known for its happiness.
As level as a pond.	An object that is almost level.	The surface of a water body is level.
As light as a feather / air.	Too light.	Air or a feather is so light that its weight can’t be felt.
As loud as a thunder.	Which sounds so loud.	A thunder is the loudest natural occurrence.
As mean as a miser.	Who lacks honour or morality.	A miser doesn’t want to spend money, (even by lives in a miserably).
As merry as a cricket.	Who is very happy.	A cricket us believed to be a joyful animal.
As mute as a fish.	-	-
As mild as a kitten.	Who is quite humble, meek or modest.	A kitten is a mild animal.
As nervous as a mouse.	Who is very nervous.	A mouse is nervous when it sees a man.
As noiseless as a shadow.	-	-
As obstinate as a mule.	One who is unwilling; stubborn.	Perhaps a mule is an obstinate animal
As old as the hills.	Who is exceedingly old.	-
As open as a smile.	Who is an extrovert person.	A smile indicates openness.
As pale as death / a ghost.	Completely colourless.	A ghost is pale, as shown in the movies.
As playful as a butterfly / kitten / squirrel.	Who is full of high spirit.	-
As poor as a church-mouse.	Who is a destitute person.	A church-mouse is a poor creature.
As pretty as a picture.	Very pretty.	An artist tries to make his portrait as beautiful with all his effort, as possible.
As proud as a peacock.	-	The peacock is known as a proud creature.
As quick as lightening / thought / wink.	Which/who takes least time to travel or to do anything.	A thought / lightening / winking is very fast.
As quiet as a mouse / mountain.	Completely quiet.	A mouse becomes quiet, whenever the cat looks for it.
As rapid as lightening.	Extremely fast.	-
As regular as sunrise.	Which occurs repeatedly after a fixed interval of time.	The sunrise is a regular atmospheric phenomena; daily appearance of the sun after a fixed interval of time.
As red as blood / beetroot.	-	Blood and beetroot are the two natural substances that symbolises the colour red.
As round as ‘O’.	An almost circular object.	The letter ‘O’ is circular.
As rough as a stone.	Completely rough.	A stone is a rough substance.
As rude as a bear.	Very rude / abusive / bad mannered / abrupt.	-
As shameless as a sin.	Which/who is totally shameless.	-
As sharp as a razor.	Which is too sharp.	A razor is so sharp that it can cut anything easily.
As silent as the dead / stars.	Who is completely silent.	A dead-body or a star cannot speak.
As silent as grave.	Completely silent.	Inside a grave, no sound is there.
As silly as a sheep.	-	-
As simple as a child.	Who is very simple.	-
As slow as a snail.	Absolutely slow.	The snail is an animal known for its slow motion.
As slippery as an eel.	Which can not be caught easily. / An untrustworthy person.	An eel is long snake-like slippery fish.
As soft as butter.	Which is very soft.	Butter is a soft food ingredient.
As solid as a rock.	Which can not be broken easily.	-
As sober as a judge.	Who is grave / serious.	A judge is always serious inside the court.
As sound as a bell.	Who is very healthy.	A bell that is not cracked (is healthy). A sound bell will emit clear sound.
As strong as a horse / an ox.	Extraordinarily strong.	-
As stubborn as a donkey.	-	-
As sweet as sugar/honey.	Very sweet.	-
As swift as an arrow.	Very fast.	Arrows are marked by their speed.
As sure as death.	Absolutely certain.	Death is unavoidable, absolutely certain and an inevitable part of our life.
As tall as a giraffe.	Who is exceptionally tall.	The giraffe is the tallest animal.
As tender as tears.
As timid as a hare / mouse.	Who is not confident or is frightened.	A hare hides its head when a hunter approaches it.
As tricky as a monkey.	A very skilful person.	The monkeys are known for being tricky or clever as they invent new ways to get what they want.
As true as a steel.	Absolutely correct.
As ugly as a sin.	Who is very ugly.	A sin is always ugly, bad, unwanted, unexpected.
As unreal as a dream.	Which doesn't belong to the reality.	A dream, in slumber, is always untrue or unreal.
As vain as a peacock.	Who has false pride.
As warm as wool.	Which is too warm.
As wasteful as a hen.	Who is careless, cavalier, dissipative	The hen wastes food grain while eating.
As weak as a kitten.	Vary weak.	A kitten is weaker than a full grown cat.
As wet as a fish.	Who is completely wet after rain or after coming out of pool.	Fishes live in water, they are always.
As white as snow / milk.	Purely fine.
As wise as a serpent/ owl/ Solomon.	Purely wise.	Solomon- King Solomon of Israel is portrayed as great in wisdom.
As yielding as wax.
As young as a dawn.	Which is fresh.	Dawn is the very first period of a day.
As zigzag as lightening.	-	-

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