up in smoke
Gone, burned away
Up in smoke describes something destroyed, wasted, or come to nothing—like smoke that dissipates into air.
Plans go up in smoke when they fail completely.
Money goes up in smoke when it's squandered.
The phrase suggests sudden, total loss: Years of work went up in smoke when the project was cancelled.
Their savings went up in smoke at the casino.
- out the windowDismissed and forgotten
- ruinComplete destruction or collapse
- disintegrationProcess of breaking apart
- burnDamage by heat
- burst into flamesCatch fire suddenly
crash and burn · go up in flames · evaporation · incineration · burnt to a crisp · reduced to ashes · collapse · obliteration · annihilation · bite the dust · evanescent · ash · pipe dream · wishful thinking · money to burn · fiasco · fleeting · down the drain
- fire idiomsplay with fire, fight fire with fire, fan the flames, add fuel to fire, on fire
- disappearedvanished, disappeared, gone, vanish, faded
- ruinedruined, destroyed, wrecked, demolished, obliterated