Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: SIMILES |
SIMILESPlural1. Of Simile |
Date "SIMILES" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Literature | Similes in common use:- BALD as a coot. BITTER as gall,soot. BLACK as ink, as a coal, as a crow BLIND as a bat, a beetle, a mole. BLUNT as a hedge-hook. BRAVE as Alexander. BRIGHT as silver. BRITTLE as glass. BROWN as a berry BUSY as a bee. CHATTER like a jay. CLEAR as crystal. COLD as ice, as a frog, as charity. COOL as a cucumber. CROSS as the tongs, as two sticks. DARK as pitch [pitch-dark]. DEAD as a door-nail. DEAF as a post. DRY as a bone. FAIR as a lily. FALSE as hell. FAT as a pig, as a porpoise. FLAT as a flounder, as a pancake. FLEET as the wind, as a racehorse. FREE as air. GAY as a lark. GOOD as gold. GREEN as grass. HARD as iron, as a flint. HARMLESS as a dove. HEAVY as lead. HOARSE as a hog, as a raven. HELPLESS as a babe. HOLLOW as a drum. HOT as fire, as an oven, as a coal. HUNGRY as a hunter. LIGHT as a feather, as day. LIMP as a glove. LOUD as thunder. MERRY as a grig, as a cricket. MILD as Moses, as milk. NEAT as wax, as a new pin. OBSTINATE as a pig (pig-headed.) OLD as the hills, as Methuselah. PALE as a ghost. PATIENT as Job. PLAIN as a pikestaff. PLAYFUL as a kitten. PLUMP as a partridge. POOR as a rat, as a church mouse, as Job. PROUD as Lucifer. RED as blood, as a fox, a rose, a brick. ROUGH as a nutmeg-grater. ROUND as an orange, a ball. RUDE as a bear. SAFE as the bank [of England], or the stocks. SAVAGE as a bear, as a tiger, as a bear with a sore head. SICK as a cat, a dog, a horse, a toad. SHARP as a needle. SLEEP like a top. SLOW as a snail, as a tortoise. SLY as a fox, as old boots. SOFT as silk, as velvet, as soap. SOUND as a roach, as a bell. SOUR as vinegar, as verjuice. STARE like a stuck pig. STEADY as Old Time. STIFF as a poker. STRAIGHT as an arrow. STRONG as iron, as a horse, as brandy. SURE as a gun, as fate, as death and taxes. SURLY as a bear. SWEET as sugar. SWIFT as lightning, as the wind, as an arrow. THICK as hops. THIN as a lath, as a whipping-post. TIGHT as a drum. TOUGH as leather. TRUE as the Gospel. VAIN as a peacock. WARM as a toast. WEAK as water. WET as a fish. WHITE as driven snow, as milk, as a swan, as a sheet, as chalk. WISE as a serpent, as Solomoi. YELLOW as a guinea, as gold, as saffron. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Crosswords: SIMILES |
| English words defined with "SIMILES": euphuism ♦ imaginative comparison ♦ To run after. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "SIMILES": Bitter as Gall, Brisk as a Bee, Brown as a Berry, Busy as a Bee ♦ Clear as Crystal. Clear as Mud ♦ Firm as a Rock ♦ Hard as a Stone ♦ Light as a Feather ♦ Sick as a Cat, Sick as a Dog, Sleep like a Top, Sly as a Fox, Sober as a Judge, Soft as Soap, Straight as an Arrow, Stuck Pig, Sure as Demoivre ♦ Vain as a Peacock ♦ Weak as Water, White as Driven Snow, Wise as Solomon. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "SIMILES": simile. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "SIMILES" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses. Latin (copy, counterfeit, feint, imitate, like, look like, pretend, resembling, similar, simulate). |
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Matthew Prior | In argument similes are like songs in love; they describe much, but prove nothing. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| "SIMILES" is generally used as a noun (plural) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "SIMILES" is used about 30 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (plural) | 100% | 30 | 63,341 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
similes | 149 | aim similes | 4 |
similes and metaphor | 58 | lesson plan similes | 4 |
poem similes | 29 | metaphor personification poem similes | 3 |
example similes | 18 | love similes | 3 |
list similes | 10 | english similes | 3 |
example metaphor similes | 9 | homeric similes | 3 |
funny similes | 6 | metaphores similes | 2 |
metaphor poem similes | 6 | similes dictionary | 2 |
lesson metaphor plan similes | 5 | in poetry similes | 2 |
poetry similes | 5 | famous similes | 2 |
animal similes | 5 | containing poem similes | 2 |
poem similes using | 4 | metaphor sample similes | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "SIMILES"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||
German | Gleichnisse (parables). (various references) | ||||
Pig Latin | imilessay | ||||
| Language | Date | Source | Luke Chapter 7, Verse 31 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Eipen de o kurioV tini oun omoiwsw touV anqrwpouV thV geneaV tauthV kai tini eisin omoioi |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Cui ergo similes dicam homines generationis huius et cui similes sunt |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | Hwam telle ic gelice þisse cneorisse men: and ham synt hi gelice; |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And the Lord seide, Therfor to whom schal Y seie `men of this generacioun lijk, and to whom ben thei lijk? |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And ye lorde sayd: Wher vnto shall I lyke the men of this generacion and what thinge are they lyke? |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And the Lord said, To what then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | What comparison am I to make of the men of this generation? what are they like? |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Luke Chapter 7, Verse 31 |
| Cebuano | Ug ang Ginoo miingon, "Nan, sa unsa ko ba ikapanig-ingon ang mga tawo niining kaliwatana, ug nahisama ba sila sa unsa? |
| Chinese | 主 又 說 、 這 樣 、 我 可 " " 麼 " 這 世 代 的 人 呢 ． 他 們 好 像 " 麼 呢 。 |
| Croatian | "S kime dakle da prispodobim ljude ovog naraštaja? Komu su nalik? |
| Danish | Ved hvem skal jeg da ligne denne Slægts Mennesker? og hvem ligne de? |
| Dutch | En de Heere zeide: Bij wien zal Ik dan de mensen van dit geslacht vergelijken, en wien zijn zij gelijk? |
| Finnish | Mihin minä siis vertaan tämän sukupolven ihmiset, ja kenen kaltaisia he ovat? |
| French | A qui donc comparerai-je les hommes de cette génération, et qui ressemblent-ils? |
| German | Aber der HERR sprach: Wem soll ich die Menschen dieses Geschlechts vergleichen, und wem sind sie gleich? |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Lalu Yesus berbicara lagi, kata-Nya, "Dengan apa harus Aku bandingkan orang-orang zaman ini? Seperti apakah mereka? |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | "Dengan apakah gerangan hendak Aku umpamakan orang zaman ini, dan apakah hal yang seumpama mereka itu? |
| Manx Gaelic | As dooyrt y Chiarn, Cre gys nee'm deiney yn cheeloghe shoh y hoylaghey? as cre rish t'ad goll? |
| Maori | Me whakarite e ahau nga tangata o tenei whakapaparanga ki te aha? he rite ratou ki te aha? |
| Norwegian | Hvem skal jeg da ligne denne slekts mennesker med, og hvem er de like? |
| Portuguese | A que, pois, compararei os homens desta geração, e a que são semelhantes? |
| Rumanian | Cu cine voi asemqna dar pe oamenii din neamul acesta? Wi cu cine seamqnq ei? |
| Russian | фПЗ"Б зПУ П"Ш УЛБЪБМ: У ЛЕН УТБЧОА МА"ЕК ТП"Б УЕЗП? Й ЛПНХ ПОЙ П"П'ОЩ? |
| Shuar | Nuinkia Uunt Jesus Tímiayi "Yamaiya aentstiram, warijiain métek árum nuna paant Títiatjarme. |
| Swahili | Yesu akaendelea kusema, "Basi, nitawafananisha watu wa kizazi hiki na kitu gani? Ni watu wa namna gani? |
| Swedish | Vad skall jag då likna detta släktes människor vid? Ja, vad äro de lika? |
| Uma | Na'uli' wo'o Yesus: "Uma mowo tauna to tuwu' tempo toi! Toi-mi lolita rapa' -ku to kurapai' -raka: |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words ending with "SIMILES": facsimiles, telefacsimiles. (additional references) | |
| |
"SIMILES" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Giamilos, savile, Semmelweis, senils, Shimelis, simbles, simil, similac, similer, similey, simili, similie, similies, similis, simole, simuler, smilers, smileys, smilies. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: mislies, missile. | |
| Words within the letters "e-i-i-l-m-s-s" | |
-1 letter: mislie, missel, simile, slimes, smiles. | |
-2 letters: isles, issei, limes, miles, mises, seism, semis, slime, slims, smile. | |
-3 letters: elms, isle, isms, leis, less, lies, lime, mels, mess, mile, mils, mise, miss, seis, sels, semi, sims, slim. | |
-4 letters: elm, els, ems, ess, ism, lei, lie, lis, mel, mil, mis, sei, sel, sim, sis. | |
-5 letters: el, em, es. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-i-i-l-m-s-s" | |
+1 letter: elitisms, flimsies, liminess, misfiles, mislikes, mislives, missiles, slimiest, slimsier. | |
+2 letters: alienisms, filminess, flimsiest, idealisms, limitless, limpsiest, milesimos, milkiness, misallies, misfields, mislikers, misrelies, missileer, missilery, mistitles, mobilises, omissible, semisolid, serialism, simplices, sliminess, slimpsier, slimsiest. | |
+3 letters: admissible, assimilate, emulsifies, facsimiles, flimsiness, impassible, implosives, impossible, lentissimo, lesbianism, liminesses, limousines, limpidness, meliorisms, meliorists, milkfishes, miniscules, misapplies, misbeliefs, misologies, missileers, missileman, missilemen, missilries, moniliases, musicalise, puerilisms, remissible, remissibly, semifinals, semifluids, semisolids, serialisms, sicklemias, simplifies, sinsemilla, skimobiles, slimpsiest, specialism, timeliness, victimless. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)53 49 4D 49 4C 45 53 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)... .. -- .. .-.. . ... |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010011 01001001 01001101 01001001 01001100 01000101 01010011 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)S I M I L E S |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0053 0049 004D 0049 004C 0045 0053 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)53434743463953 |
| Language | Coverage | Language Translations |
German | Übersetzung, Wörterbuch, Definition | |
English | Dictionary, Definition, Translation | englisch |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Commercial 4. Quotations: Familiar | 5. Usage Frequency 6. Expressions: Internet 7. Translations: Modern 8. Bible Trace | 9. Derivations 10. Anagrams 11. Orthography 12. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
