Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.

James Huneker

As ambitious as Lady Macbeth.

Bitter in the mouth as a page torn out of Ecclesiastes.

Cold as salt.

As cunning as Becky Sharp.

Dangerous as hammering dynamite.

Direct as antique tragedy.

Elusive as sheet lightning playing among June clouds.

Exquisite in their mechanism as the motion of the planets.

Hanker as strongly as do pianists in the presence of an open keyboard.

Innocent as an almanac.

As invigorating as a bath of salt water when the skin is peeled off.

As loquacious as Polonius.

As plain as the round shield of the sun blazing on high.

As relentless as a Greek tragedy.

As romantic as a Bouguereau canvas.

Their souls shine like living torches.

Sinister as murky midnight pools.

Uncoiled itself like a huge boa about to engulf a tiny rabbit.

Unscrupulous as Siegfried.

Wet as a dog in the rain.