みたいに/みたいな

1. 1Resemblance or comparison: doing something, or being a certain way, in a manner that resembles something else.Ex. 1
2. 2Example: naming a representative instance of a kind of thing ("such as").Ex. 2

Common in everyday conversation and casual writing, and often reinforced with まるで for vivid comparisons. It is the informal counterpart of ように/ような, which is preferred in formal speech and writing. The same resemblance sense can end a sentence as みたいだ.

• みたいだN4「みたいだ」 is used at the end of a sentence as a predicate and, besides similes, can also express conjecture ("it seems that…"); 「みたいに/みたいな」 are its conjugated forms, which modify verbs, adjectives, or nouns and can also give examples. Both lean colloquial.
• ように/ようなN3「ように/ような」 can replace this pattern in both the simile and example senses, with a neutral, slightly formal tone that is also common in writing; nouns require 「の」 and な-adjectives require 「な」 before them. They also have a separate use, as in 「前に述べたように」, meaning "just as…"
• ようだN4For similes, 「ような/ように」 are interchangeable with this pattern but more formal, and they connect differently: nouns take 「の」 and な-adjectives take 「な」, as in 「子供のように」. 「ようだ」 can also express conjecture ("it seems").
• らしいN4「みたいに/みたいな」 express similes and examples, whereas 「らしい」 expresses conjecture based on hearsay or signs. 「子供みたいな」 compares someone to a child (being like a child), while 「子供らしい」 means having a child's typical traits, so the two should not be swapped.
• まるでN3「まるで」 is an adverb placed earlier in the sentence to strengthen the "just like" tone; it often works together with 「みたいに/みたいな」 but cannot replace them. It is neutral in register and can also emphasize degree, as in 「まるで違う」, but it does not give examples.
• ように見えるN4「ように見える」 functions as a predicate meaning something visually "looks like" something and can express conjecture or simile but not examples, whereas 「みたいに/みたいな」 function adverbially or adnominally and lean colloquial. 「ように見える」 takes 「の」 after nouns and 「な」 after な-adjectives.

みたいだ, ようだ, らしい and ように見える are predicates that express resemblance, appearance or conjecture, while みたいに/みたいな connect to a following verb or noun; ように/ような has the same functions but is more formal. まるで is an adverb that often precedes みたいに to emphasize a comparison, and it cannot express the example sense.