Which term is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things?

• A. Metaphor
• B. Personification
• C. Apostrophe
• D. Onomatopoeia

Answer: (A)

A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things without using like or as. This direct, imaginative linking lets one idea stand in for another to reveal a shared quality, such as saying “time is money” to suggest time has value and can be spent. That exact idea—a direct comparison without linking words—fits the description in the question, making it the best choice. Other terms describe different devices: personification gives human traits to nonhuman things; apostrophe addresses an absent or imagined listener as if present; and onomatopoeia uses words that mimic sounds.