A metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things not using the word like or as. Metaphors can be powerful, but they can also be tricky to identify at times. This page contains 100 metaphor examples.
I have separated the metaphors on this page into two lists. The first list contains metaphors that are easier to comprehend and identify. We will call these “easy metaphors,” though they may not be easy to understand. The second list contains fifty metaphors that are more difficult to comprehend. We will call these “hard metaphors.” Another way to consider this would be as a list of metaphors for kids and adults. Without further preamble, here is the list of easy metaphors:
Metaphor Examples for Intermediate Readers
The slashes indicate line breaks.
- The detective listened to her tales with a wooden face.
- She was fairly certain that life was a fashion show.
- The typical teenage boy’s room is a disaster area.
- What storms then shook the ocean of my sleep.
- The children were roses grown in concrete gardens, beautiful and forlorn.
- Kisses are the flowers of love in bloom.
- His cotton candy words did not appeal to her taste.
- Kathy arrived at the grocery store with an army of children.
- Her eyes were fireflies.
- He wanted to set sail on the ocean of love but he just wasted away in the desert.
- I was lost in a sea of nameless faces.
- John’s answer to the problem was just a Band-Aid, not a solution.
- The cast on Michael’s broken leg was a plaster shackle.
- Cameron always had a taste for the fruit of knowledge.
- The promise between us was a delicate flower.
- He’s a rolling stone, and it’s bred in the bone.
- He pleaded for her forgiveness but Janet’s heart was cold iron.
- She was just a trophy to Ricardo, another object to possess.
- The path of resentment is easier to travel than the road to forgiveness.
- Katie’s plan to get into college was a house of cards on a crooked table.
- The wheels of justice turn slowly.
- Hope shines–a pebble in the gloom.
- She cut him down with her words.
- The job interview was a rope ladder dropped from heaven.
- Her hair was a flowing golden river streaming down her shoulders.
- The computer in the classroom was an old dinosaur.
- Laughter is the music of the soul.
- David is a worm for what he did to Shelia.
- The teacher planted the seeds of wisdom.
- Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day
- Each blade of grass was a tiny bayonet pointed firmly at our bare feet.
- The daggers of heat pierced through his black t-shirt.
- Let your eyes drink up that milkshake sky.
- The drums of time have rolled and ceased.
- Her hope was a fragile seed.
- When Ninja Robot Squad came on TV, the boys were glued in their seats.
- Words are the weapons with which we wound.
- She let such beautiful pearls of wisdom slip from her mouth without even knowing.
- Scars are the roadmap to the soul.
- The quarterback was throwing nothing but rockets and bombs in the field.
- We are all shadows on the wall of time.
- My heart swelled with a sea of tears.
- When the teacher leaves her little realm, she breaks her wand of power apart.
- The Moo Cow’s tail is a piece of rope all raveled out where it grows.
- My dreams are flowers to which you are a bee.
- The clouds sailed across the sky.
- Each flame of the fire is a precious stone belonging to all who gaze upon it.
- And therefore I went forth with hope and fear into the wintry forest of our life.
- My words are chains of lead.
- But into her face there came a flame; / I wonder could she have been thinking the same?
Metaphor Examples for Advanced Readers
Here are fifty more challenging examples of metaphors. The slashes indicate line breaks.
- The light flows into the bowl of the midnight sky, violet, amber and rose.
- Men court not death when there are sweets still left in life to taste.
- In capitalism, money is the life blood of society but charity is the soul.
- Whose world is but the trembling of a flare, / And heaven but as the highway for a shell,
- Fame is the fragrance of heroic deeds, / Of flowers of chivalry and not of weeds!
- So I sit spinning still, round this decaying form, the fine threads of rare and subtle thought.
- And swish of rope and ring of chain /
Are music to men who sail the main. - Still sits the school-house by the road, a ragged beggar sunning.
- The child was our lone prayer to an empty sky.
- Blind fools of fate and slaves of circumstance, / Life is a fiddler, and we all must dance.
- Grind the gentle spirit of our meek reviews into a powdery foam of salt abuse.
- Laugh a drink from the deep blue cup of sky.
- Think now: history has many cunning passages and contrived corridors.
- You are now in London, that great sea whose ebb and flow at once is deaf and loud,
- His fine wit makes such a wound that the knife is lost in it.
- Waves of spam emails inundated his inbox.
- In my heart’s temple I suspend to thee these votive wreaths of withered memory.
- He cast a net of words in garish colours wrought to catch the idle buzzers of the day.
- This job is the cancer of my dreams and aspirations.
- This song shall be thy rose, soft, fragrant, and with no thorn left to wound thy bosom.
- There, one whose voice was venomed melody.
- A sweetness seems to last amid the dregs of past sorrows.
- So in this dimmer room which we call life,
- Life is the night with its dream-visions teeming, / Death is the waking at day.
- Then the lips relax their tension
and the pipe begins to slide, /
Till in little clouds of ashes,
it falls softly at his side. - The olden days: when thy smile to me was wine, golden wine thy word of praise.
- Thy tones are silver melted into sound.
- Under us the brown earth / Ancient and strong, / The best bed for wanderers;
- Love is a guest that comes, unbidden, / But, having come, asserts his right;
- My House of Life is weather-stained with years.
- See the sun, far off, a shriveled orange in a sky gone black;
- Three pines strained darkly, runners in a race unseen by any.
- But the rare herb, Forgetfulness, it hides away from me.
- The field of cornflower yellow is a scarf at the neck of the copper sunburned woman
- Life: a lighted window and a closed door.
- Some days my thoughts are just cocoons hanging from dripping branches in the grey woods of my mind.
- Men and women pass in the street glad of the shining sapphire weather.
- The swan existing is a song with an accompaniment.
- At night the lake is a wide silence, without imagination.
- The cherry-trees are seas of bloom and soft perfume and sweet perfume.
- The great gold apples of light hang from the street’s long bough, dripping their light on the faces that drift below, on the faces that drift and blow.
- From its blue vase the rose of evening drops.
- When in the mines of dark and silent thought / Sometimes I delve and find strange fancies there,
- The twigs were set beneath a veil of willows.
- He clutched and hacked at ropes, at rags of sail, / Thinking that comfort was a fairy tale,
- O Moon, your light is failing and you are nothing now but a bow.
- Life is a dream in the night, a fear among fears, / A naked runner lost in a storm of spears.
- This world of life is a garden ravaged.
- And therefore I went forth, with hope and fear / Into the wintry forest of our life;
- My soul was a lampless sea and she was the tempest.
Common Core State Standards Related to Metaphor
Anchor Standards
View All CCSS Standards Related to MetaphorCCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.4 – Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.5 – Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
ELA Standards: Literature
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g., alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4 – Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
ELA Standards: Language
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.5 – Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.5a – Explain the meaning of simple similes and metaphors (e.g., as pretty as a picture) in context.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.5b – Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.5a – Interpret figurative language, including similes and metaphors, in context.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.5b – Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.5a – Interpret figures of speech (e.g., personification) in context.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.5a – Interpret figures of speech (e.g., literary, biblical, and mythological allusions) in context.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.5a – Interpret figures of speech (e.g. verbal irony, puns) in context.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.5a – Interpret figures of speech (e.g., euphemism, oxymoron) in context and analyze their role in the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.5a – Interpret figures of speech (e.g., hyperbole, paradox) in context and analyze their role in the text.
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Common Core Lesson and Unit Plans
Understanding Common Core State Standards
AJ
/ December 7, 2015I was sharing your metaphors with a friend who is Deaf, because she tends to be more literal and figurative speech such as idioms,similes, metaphors are more challenging. We had fun discussing many of these. I wish the closed captioning was more accurate.
Mr. Morton
/ December 11, 2015I’m so happy to hear it. To what closed captioning are you referring?
Batman_9635
/ November 9, 2015Awesome!
Zak
/ November 5, 2015REALLY HELPFULL.
Shanthini
/ October 31, 2015Thank you. These words helped me remember the beauty of words and expression. A balm to one’s jaded soul.
Rebecca Berrios
/ October 26, 2015Thank you for the reminder. I remember these metaphors from my years in High school and College. The list is a great reference for sharing! What a great way to refresh your memory.
Mr. Morton
/ October 26, 2015You remember them? Like, from this site? Or you’ve encountered these metaphors elsewhere?
In either case, thank you for visiting my site and taking the time to comment. Best wishes.
Mayush
/ October 14, 2015Great !! really helpful for my writing.
lizzy
/ October 7, 2015so cool
lily a skycloud
/ October 1, 2015i get it alot better now thanks
Angel
/ September 23, 2015These are not metaphors
Mr. Morton
/ September 24, 2015What do you think a metaphor is?
Jaden
/ March 3, 2016Yes they are…
jobani stanislas
/ July 27, 2016it helped me a lot! thank u very much!
victoria
/ September 20, 2015good job on working on this website bravo!!!! 😉 ;P
victoria
/ September 20, 2015very good website 🙂
khaleyah deshae.jones-odeh
/ February 17, 2016why does metaphors matter
laylay
/ September 18, 2015thanks for sharing the example, make me really understand what metaphor mean.
Josh
/ August 26, 2015Thats for this website! It got me from D+ to A!!
Siva
/ August 18, 2015Thank you
victoria
/ September 20, 2015I agree Siva
Siva
/ August 18, 2015Saved my day
Siva
/ August 18, 2015Is ” he was a tiger in the battle field” a metaphor
Mr. Morton
/ August 18, 2015Yes, because it compares “him” to a tiger without using the word like or as.
Marina
/ August 12, 2015Hi ,
I’m having trouble making metaphors…
Can u please help me ?
Youngblur
/ July 29, 2015Thanks for this great website i love it so much and am greatful,but i need some rhyming metaphors sothat i will be using it for some of my rap.
Mr. Morton
/ July 30, 2015Well, making them rhyme would be your job, Youngblur.
kavya
/ July 28, 2015THIS WEBSITE IS REALLY USEFUL FOR MY STUDIES THank u
Xmania
/ July 27, 2015This website is awesome thx so much and even more it helped me with my HOMEWORK a lot my teacher gave me a legend thx thx thx thx thx ALOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Emy Perez
/ July 21, 2015thank u for these very good examples…it helps me a lot ‘:)
denneir
/ July 13, 2015thanks a lot
denner
/ July 13, 2015thank you a lot
baran
/ July 5, 2015Thanks, it helps my kids alot.
Brenda
/ June 14, 2015really nice!I find it difficult to identify metaphors in a story.(on my own) 🙁
jai
/ June 4, 2015Thank you …it helps for my exam
Einstein
/ June 2, 2015Thank you for making such incredible website! Its has really helped me with my learning and homework! I even told my friends about this website and told them how useful it is! This website ROCKS! ☺☻♥♦♣♠•◘○ ¶(^o^)¶
~ Einsteins OUT
Casey
/ June 2, 2015Thanks alot!It has really helped me with my homework! This website ROCKS! 🙂 😀
jude
/ May 31, 2015what is a metaphor i did not understand can you retell it in details plz.
thank you
Mr. Morton
/ June 3, 2015A metaphor is when two things are compared without using the word “like” or “as.” For example: The sun was a golden plate. Here, the sun is being compared to a golden plate. Obviously, the sun is not a plate. So, you see, using figurative language, I can implicitly compare the sun to a plate, and most listeners would understand my meaning (that the sun was round, bright, yellow, etc.)
Xmania
/ July 27, 2015Your Amazing Mr Morton like alooooooooooottttttttt can you make one on personification
Mr. Morton
/ July 30, 2015I sure can: http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/figurative-language/figurative-language-examples/personification-examples/
Terrance
/ May 26, 2015thanks for the idea
helped me a lot
ADHU2004
/ May 20, 2015Helpful!!
Lo
/ May 20, 2015i’ve learnt a lot. thanks
ujwala cherry
/ May 19, 2015don’t sit like a rock,work like this web site,it saves our time
Mr. Morton
/ March 27, 2017That’s a nice simile. Thanks.
http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/figurative-language/figurative-language-examples/simile-examples/
emmanuel
/ May 19, 2015Thankx a lot. But can i use metaphors to rap
Mr. Morton
/ March 27, 2017You sure can. Most good rappers do.
garrett
/ May 13, 2015thank you sooooo much. This really helped me a lot.
laiba hashmat
/ May 8, 2015time is a thief-time isnt really stealing anything,this metaphor just indicates that time passes quickly and our life pass by.
sheena de jesus
/ April 22, 2015Hello may I know the author of this site please? I just need it for my bibliography… thanks!
Mr. Morton
/ April 27, 2015Donald E. Morton
genevra
/ March 25, 2015nice metaphors 😁😊😊😁
Innocence Dague
/ March 25, 2015One more question is these ones a metaphor, Your the apple of my eye, and you are what you eat.
Mr. Morton
/ March 27, 2015Well, “apple of my eye” is a metaphor. “You are what you eat” seems like a metaphor, but it’s pretty abstract because it contains a variable that does not contain a value.
Innocence Dague
/ March 25, 2015I get it now! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 Yipee!!!!!!!!!!
Hnin Hnin Lu
/ March 19, 2015I would like to get the exact Names of Metaphors , Thank you …
How many kinds of Metaphors in English language learning , please express with each of its’ kinds and names ,for example Euphemism…
Egypt
/ March 16, 2015Thx it was perfect the videos really helped me out perfection👍👍👍👍😍😄😄😉😉😀😀😊😊
chase
/ March 11, 2015this website hase helped me for my class work i got an a for doing it thanks alot 🙂
Sikander
/ March 1, 2015Thanks google ,before i was upset ,after read these metaphors i am feeling good.
Marcel
/ March 4, 2015😀 same here tanks google and u Mr.Morton
selene
/ February 28, 2015awsome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! really help thanks very much
CLJ
/ February 27, 2015Tnx can u do one on themes
Mr. Morton
/ March 2, 2015That’s a good idea. I’ll keep it in mind. In the meantime check out these theme resources: http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/free-reading-worksheets/theme-worksheets/
ena
/ February 22, 2015Rawsome**::::::-thanks a lot :::
Hayden
/ February 12, 2015Thank you so much this really helped me and you are AWESOME! 😀 😀 😀 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Ayanna
/ February 12, 2015Thank so much these worksheets help a lot.Do you have anything to help my students write essays?
Mr. Morton
/ March 2, 2015I wrote this to help with narrative essays: http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/writing/writing-narrative-essays/
And I wrote this to help with persuasive essays: http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/writing/writing-persuasive-essays/
Thanks for visiting!
iulian
/ February 3, 2015This is the best