まるで (completely / just like)
grammar6 sentences
The adverb まるで, used here as a simile-intensifier paired with ~のように/~ような ('just like X, exactly as if X'). The same word also functions as an absolute intensifier with negative or extreme predicates (まるでだめ 'utterly hopeless,' まるで違う 'completely different'); context disambiguates the two uses.