Metaphor — English definition
A direct comparison that says one thing IS another, without using 'like' or 'as,' such as 'the classroom was a zoo.'
Where it is taught
- Point of View & Figurative Language — Reading Literature, English 6, Grade 6
In use
' A metaphor makes the same comparison but drops the 'like' or 'as' and states it outright — 'her focus was a knife.
Point of View & Figurative Language
Questions using metaphor
Problem 1
Which sentence is a metaphor rather than a simile?
- Her voice was fairly quiet.
- Her voice was like music.
- Her voice was music to my ears.
- Her voice sounded as sweet as honey.
Answer and explanation
Her voice was music to my ears.
This sentence directly states the voice IS music, with no 'like' or 'as,' making it a metaphor.
Taught alongside
- point of view
- first-person point of view
- third-person limited point of view
- third-person omniscient point of view
- figurative language
- simile
- personification
- hyperbole
- denotation
- connotation