COLORS, COMPARING, SIMILES

grey matter (B2)

a person's intelligence

out of the blue (C1)

without warning, unexpectedly

white-collar (C1)

relating to people who work in offices

(be) green with envy (C2)

be very jealous, envious

a red-letter day (C2)

a day which will always be remembered

be (kept) in the dark (C2)

be kept uninformed about something

be in the black (C2)

have money in your bank account

be tickled pink (C2)

be very pleased or happy

lend colour to something (C2)

make sth appear more credible

yellow-bellied (C2)

not brave and easily frightened

be/stand head and shoulders above (B2)

be much better than other people

a world of difference between (C1)

a stark contrast, a vast improvement

as different as chalk and cheese (C1)

completely different from each other

be a chip off the old block (C1)

look or behave like one of your parents

be in a league of one's own (C1)

superior to others of one's or its kind

be on the same wavelength (C1)

be in agreement, think or behave similarly

not fit to hold a candle (C1)

be much less good, beautiful, impressive

not to be a patch on something (C1)

be much less attractive than something

bear a striking resemblance (C2)

be similar to someone or something

pale into insignificance (C2)

seem much less important

as regular as clockwork (B2)

never late or always at the same time

as thick as two short planks (B2)

very stupid

as brown as a berry (C1)

having tanned skin due to sun exposure

as dead as the dodo (C1)

not be important or popular any longer

as mad as a hatter (C1)

completely insane, crazy

as keen as mustard (C2)

extremely eager or enthusiastic

as large as life (C2)

present before someone

as slippery as an eel (C2)

devious, scheming, and untrustworthy

as snug as a bug in a rug (C2)

in a very comfortable position

be like a red rag to a bull (C1)

be certain to produce an angry reaction

have a memory like a sieve (C1)

have difficulty remembering things

like a bat out of hell (C1)

very fast and wildly

like a bump on a log (C1)

inactive, unresponsive, or sluggish

fight like Kilkenny cats (C2)

fight until both parties are destroyed

go down like a lead balloon (C2)

be completely unsuccessful or unpopular

like a lamb to the slaughter (C2)

as a helpless victim

like a toad under the harrow (C2)

subject sb to undergoing distress, sorrow

for keeps (B2)

have forever

in full swing (B2)

at the highest level of activity

it's raining cats and dogs! (B2)

said to mean that it is raining very heavily

more or less (B2)

almost, about

the silver screen (B2)

the cinema industry

well and truly (B2)

completely

by and large (C1)

in general, on the whole

first and foremost (C1)

most importantly