gone up in smoke
Hopes entirely dashed
Gone up in smoke describes something that has been destroyed, wasted, or come to nothing—like matter consumed by fire, leaving only vapor.
Plans go up in smoke when they fail completely.
Savings go up in smoke when lost to bad investments.
Years of work gone up in smoke.
The phrase emphasizes sudden, total loss with nothing salvageable remaining.
- vanishedDisappeared from sight
- dissipatedDispersed or morally loose
- evaporatedConverted to gas
- blown awayOverwhelmed with amazement
- disappearedCeased to exist visibly
up in flames · squandered · erased · demolished · evanescence · annihilation · fiasco · went up in flames · impermanence · obliterated · debacle · transience · failure · burst into flames · reduced to ashes · incineration · wasted · all for nothing
gone up in smokepaid off
Yielded a positive result
panned out · succeeded · materialized · worked out · borne fruit
gone up in smokesolidified
Made firm, not fluid
crystallized · taken shape · set in stone · cemented · locked in
gone, goes, going, upping, smoke, smokes, smoked, smoking, smoky