smelt a rat
Grew justifiably suspicious
To smelt a rat is to sense that something is wrong or suspect deception, even without proof.
The phrase suggests an instinctive awareness, like an animal detecting danger by scent: I smelt a rat when he wouldn't look me in the eye.
Also appears as smell a rat, with smelt being the British past tense.
- suspectBelieve to be likely
- sneaking suspicionVague persistent doubt
- alarm bellAudible danger signal
- suspicionSense of unease about motives
- doubtLack of firm belief
sense · mistrust · sixth sense · intuition · hunch · fraud · trickery · gut feeling · trust your gut · bad vibes · foul play · discern · red flag · fishy · duplicity · scam · guile · hoax
SUSPICION vs. TRUST
smelt a rattook at face value
Believed without scrutiny
fell for it · swallowed whole · took on faith · bought it · took the bait
smelt, smell, smells, smelling, smelled, smelly, rat, rats, ratty