Categories: Site glossary
A simile is a comparson marked explicitly (an atom is like a tiny solar system), but a metaphor is presented as if an identifiy (an atom is a tiny solar system) leaving the audience to recognise this is figurtive and not meant literally.
However, often in texts once a simile has been introduced, it is subsequently used without being marked as such, i.e., it is presented as a metaphor, an d the reader/hearer is expected to recall the temr is being used figuratively.
e.g., see: spacecraft 'sniffed' the asteroid's scent
[Please be aware that a word may have different nuances, or even a different meaning, according to context.]« Back to Index
