What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor?

Answer 1

A simile is a figure of speech in which the subject is compared to another subject. Frequently, similes are marked by use of the words like or as. "The snow was like a blanket". However, "The snow blanketed the earth" is also a simile and not a metaphor because the verb blanketed is a shortened form of the phrase covered like a blanket. A few other examples are "The deer ran like the wind", "The raindrops sounded as popcorn kernels popping", and "the lullaby was like the hush of the winter."

Similes are composed of two parts: comparandum, the thing to be compared, and the comparatum, the thing to which the comparison is made. For example in the simile "The snow was like a blanket", "the snow" is the comparandum while "a blanket" is the comparatum.

The phrase "The snow was a blanket over the earth" is the metaphor in this case. Metaphors differ from similes in that the two objects are not compared, but treated as identical, "We are but a moment's sunlight, fading in the grass." Note: Some would argue that a simile is actually a specific type of metaphor.

Answer 2

A simile is a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as') e.g. she was as mad as a rabid dog.

A metaphor is a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity e.g. He was drowning in money.

Answer 3

a metaphor says something is something else, like "your eyes are stars in my sky", a simile is a comparison using like or as, like "your eyes are as blue as the sky", or "that teenager is like a two year old"

Answer 4

simile says something is like something else, a metaphor says something is something else.

Answer 5

Similies use the words 'like' or 'as'. Metaphors don't. It's as simple as that.
So for instance,
"She was as sweet as a piece of candy" -similie
"She was a sweet piece of candy" - metaphor