Cyrano Beitman Practice Test

Direct comparison without using like or as is called a metaphor. A metaphor makes an implied equivalence, treating one thing as if it were another to highlight a quality or create a vivid image. For example, "Time is a thief" asserts that time itself steals moments, not that it steals in the way a thief would. This direct claim differentiates it from a simile, which explicitly uses like or as to compare, such as "Time moves like a thief." The other terms depict different kinds of nonliteral language: an idiom is a phrase whose meaning isn’t tied to the literal meanings of the words, and hyperbole is an intentional exaggeration. So the term for a direct, not-literal comparison is metaphor.