Similes in the ESL Classroom

in Grammar

Similes Defined

Time flies like an arrow.

A legend as old as the hills.

These are examples of a figure of speech called a simile. Similes are used to illustrate a point or elicit an emotion by comparing two objects or actions equally. The word simile comes from the Latin root similes, meaning sameness or likeness. The words similar and facsimile also use the same root.