Natural:
There are no squares in nature
Man-made:
Blocks
Dice
Keyboard keys
Baseball diamonds
Air conditioning vents
Coasters
City blocks
Cereal pieces
Window panes
Hopscotch sections
Rubik’s cube sections
Tic-tac-toe sections
Stepping stones and pavement slabs
Slices of bread
Cheese slices
Agricultural fields
Ovens
Gemstones
Magnets
Casserole dish
End tables…
Synonyms: boxy, equilateral, quadrate, quadratic, right-angled…
Describing a shape is best done in as few words as possible. Think of the shape as a camera snap shot–you want to capture the gist of what you mean as soon as possible so you can get on with other related (and more important) detail, and the action happening in the scene
Accurate shape comparisons will streamline your prose, allowing you to describe an object quickly so the reader’s focus stays on the action and events of each scene.
Want access to a plethora of real-world comparisons for specific shapes so you can spend your description currency on what matters most? We have you covered. This thesaurus has been expanded by 50% and integrated into our online library at One Stop For Writers. There, you’ll find an intuitive list of ideas to choose from, cross-referenced for easy searchability. To view a free sample of this descriptive thesaurus and others, head on over and register at One Stop.
Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.
Thank you for this. You ladies are dedicated!
The most helpful part is the synonyms. 🙂 Especially with the word “square”.
Very nice. Thanks for all you’re hard work!
Another excellent addition. Well done ladies.
A big ‘Hi’ and congratulations from UK, Angela.
We are ‘sisters-by-agent’ and isn’t Jill fantastic!!
Those watermelons crack me up! And so cool there are no perfect squares or circles in nature!
Great (as always) post!
Thanks Bish!
True enough there are items in nature that are square-like, but probably the best way to create a recognizable and effective comparision or contrast would be to stick with something familiar to the reader, which in this case means something man-made.
It’s true there may be no perfect squares in nature, but then there are no perfect circles either. However, there are a few things in nature that are squarish, or have rectangular features.
Cyrstals of various kinds and sorts have rectangular/cubic sides.
Lobster eyes(I know how many of us have actually stared into lobster eyes) look very much like graph-paper.
The cross section of the stem of of plants from the mint family is square.
There are polygons in nature. The balsalt pillars of The Giant’s Causeway in Ireland and the Devil’s Postpile in California are examples. Sometimes squares turn up in the piles of stone.
And honeycombs, although hexagonal, each side is a near perfect rectangle.
Just a few examples.