The Difference Between Hyperbole, Simile, Metaphor and Analogy

Ever just wonder about something and then just finally look it up one day?

Hyperbole is an exaggeration. The definition is:

An exaggerated, extravagant expression. It is hyperbole to say, “I’d give my whole fortune for a bowl of bean soup.”(Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by
Houghton Mifflin Company.)

Simile is a comparison. The definitiion is:

A common figure of speech that explicitly compares two things usually considered different. Most similes are introduced by like or as: “The realization hit me like a bucket of cold water.”(The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and
James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.)

Metaphor is applying one object to another. The definition is:

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one
object or idea is applied to another, thereby suggesting a likeness or
analogy between them.(Copyright © 2005, ILOVEPOETRY, Inc, All Rights Reserved.)

Analogy is showing the simiarity of two things that are normally not similar. People use this a lot. The definition is:

A comparison of two different things that are alike in some way (see metaphor and simile). An analogy attributed to Samuel Johnson is: “Dictionaries are like watches; the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.”Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by
Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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