go up in smoke
Burn to nothing
To go up in smoke is to be destroyed or come to nothing, like something consumed by fire.
Plans, dreams, investments, or efforts go up in smoke when they fail completely: Years of work went up in smoke when the company folded.
The phrase emphasizes sudden, total loss—nothing remains but the metaphorical ash.
Sudden structural failure
- ruinComplete destruction or collapse
- fiascoHumiliating public failure
- debacleSudden, complete failure
- disasterSudden ruinous event
downfall · bankruptcy · insolvency · default · foreclosure · liquidation · bust · crash
Pass from visibility
- evaporateTransition to gaseous state
- dissipateGradually fade away
- dissolveDisperse into liquid
- fadeLose intensity gradually
disintegrate · evanesce · poof · vaporize · melt away · slip away · come to nothing · lost
Burn to nothing
- combustCatch fire suddenly
- blazeIntense burning fire
- conflagrationLarge destructive blaze
- infernoDevastating, uncontrollable blaze
engulf · burn down · consume · devastate · raze · destroy · obliterate · annihilate
collapse
Sudden structural failure
disaster · downfall · bankruptcy · insolvency · default · foreclosure · liquidation · bust · crash · fall apart
disappear
Pass from visibility
fade · disintegrate · evanesce · poof · vaporize · melt away · slip away · come to nothing · lost · fleeting
incinerate
Burn to nothing
- combustCatch fire suddenly
- blazeIntense burning fire
- conflagrationLarge destructive blaze
inferno · engulf · burn down · consume · devastate · raze · destroy · obliterate · annihilate · demolish
- fire idiomsplay with fire, fight fire with fire, fan the flames, add fuel to fire, on fire
go up in smokematerialize
Become physically present
pan out · succeed · come true · bear fruit · work out
go up in smokeendure
Suffer through without yielding
survive · stand the test of time · hold up · weather the storm · last
rise, smoke, gone, going, smoking, smoky, smoked, smoker, smokes