10 Spring Metaphors, Idioms and Similes (2024)

Each season of the year has its own meaning. Springtime represents rebirth, brighter days ahead, and positivity.

Many springtime metaphors and similes highlight the association we have between spring and these positive feelings of rebirth. For example:

Spring feels like you’re a child again.
Spring is playful.
Springtime breathes joy into my lungs.
Spring is Hope.

I’ve noticed most of these terms are better phrased as similes than metaphors, but I will mix it up and present a few as similes and a few as metaphors.

A List of Spring Metaphors, Idioms, and Similes

1. Waking after a long Rest

When we say spring is ‘like’ waking after a long rest, we are highlighting the fact that winter is a slow, lazy, and even unhappy time. It’s cold, the sun is out less, and it often rains.

Furthermore, many animals literally sleep all through winter – it’s called hibernation! So there is even a grain of literal truth in this simile.

You might use this phrase when talking about how good it feels on the first nice day of spring. You can say to your friends as you walk out the window to head to the park: “Wow, it feels like I’m waking up after a long rest!”

2. Turning over a New Leaf

This idiom refers to the idea of starting over again. In the 16^th Century, we used to call pages in books ‘leaves’. And, to get to a new chapter in a book, you’ve got to turn a new page (or a new leaf). So turning over a new leaf is a requirement to get to the next chapter.

Spring is often seen as the new chapter in your own personal book because it’s the end of a long time of cold weather and the beginning of a period of warmth and sunshine.

3. A breath of Fresh Air

To say Spring is a breath of fresh air can be both figurative and literal. Literally, spring might be the first time in a long time when you get to go outside and get to breathe in the air from outdoors (especially if you live somewhere really cold like Alaska!)

But figuratively, we say something is a breath of fresh air if it’s a positive change. And for many of us, after a long period of cold, Spring is definitely a very positive change.

4. Like becoming a Child Again

Spring symbolizes new life. This is, clearly, because many animals (like birds, bears and deer) have new babies during springtime. You go outside and see baby ducklings all over the place!

But there’s also this sense of childishness to springtime. General happiness goes up, people go outside more, and you feel like you’re just a little bit younger. The things around you look new again and the future is bright, just like when you were a child.

Related: A List of Fall Metaphors

5. Spring is Playful

Playfulness certainly increases during springtime. People join sporting groups, you can see young people outside playing frisbee and hackey sack, and you can see young animals frolicking in the woods.

This overall sense of playfulness during this period of the year can lead you to not just say we are playful during spring, but to personify the entire season by saying the season itself is playful.

6. Spring Breathes Joy into my Life

Here again, we can see the theme of happiness, joyfulness, and new life during springtime. Again in this sentence, we are employing personification. Of course, spring cannot breathe! It’s not a person or even an animal. But we’re giving it humanistic traits in order to create beautiful figurative language.

MORE PLANT SYMBOLISM:

7. God’s Reward

Many Christians see spring through a religious lens. Easter takes place at the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and is a period celebrating the grace of God. Even the symbolism of the Easter message points toward ideas like rebirth and eternal life.

But other religious people might also see spring as a reward from god following a long period of cold that they had to endure.

8. A New Dawn

Again returning to the idea of renewal, to say that spring is a new dawn isn’t to say that it’s just a brand new day. Rather, you’re saying that it is like a new day. They have many similarities. Both represent the beginning of something. They both show that there’s a long period of light and warmth before the darkness (winter) sets in again. And they both represent a sense of positivity and a ‘spring in your step’.

9. A Warm Cup of Coffee

To say spring is like a warm cup of coffee, you’re saying that it’s something that is soothing and delicious. I also like that coffee is usually drunk in the morning, and as we’ve established above, spring is the ‘beginning’, just like the morning is the beginning of the day.

When I fantasize about spring, I picture in my mind sitting outside having a beautiful breakfast with the birds chirping and the sun shining, and of course, a part of that image is that nice warm cup of coffee!

10. A New Love

At the beginning of a new relationship, there’s a sense of positivity about the future. You’re usually really happy and overjoyed at what the next few months will bring. You have a spring in your step! Well, you can draw an analogy here to the beginning of spring. At this time of year, people often feel positive and upbeat. They might feel excited about the coming summer months and wake up with a smile on their face.

Conclusion

Seasonal metaphors and idioms can be useful motifs within literature. They can allow you to signify transitions in the lives of characters or the general plotline. As your character transitions into a hopeful stage in their life, you might enter spring; while transitioning into a long period of sadness, you could consider a winter motif.