A figure of speech in which unlike things are compared; a contrast or the opposite of a simile.
From Latin dissimilis (dis- 'not' + similis 'like'). Unlike 'simile' (from Latin similitude 'comparison of like things'), dissimile emphasizes comparison of unlike things. This term evolved in rhetoric to name a specific literary device.
A dissimile is like an anti-simile—instead of 'brave as a lion,' you'd say something is nothing like courage, making contrast central. Writers use it rarely but powerfully to establish what something definitely is NOT.
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