where there's smoke
Something is burning
Where there's smoke is a proverb meaning that visible signs usually indicate something real behind them—if people are talking about a scandal, there's probably some truth to it.
The full form is where there's smoke, there's fire.
Often used to justify suspicion: I'm not saying he's guilty, but where there's smoke...
- fireCombustion with flames
- flamesVisible burning combustion
- proverbTraditional saying expressing truth
- warningAlert about danger
- signMark conveying information
clue · evidence · dead giveaway · hint · suspicion · rumor · truth · investigation · detective · arson · burning · ash · signal · alarm · gossip · scandal · tip of the iceberg · cover-up
- fire idiomsplay with fire, fight fire with fire, fan the flames, add fuel to fire, on fire
where there's smokefalse alarm
Erroneous warning signal
red herring · smoke and mirrors · wild goose chase · crying wolf · tempest in a teapot
where there's smokeseeing is believing
Doubt ends with evidence
prove it · skepticism · presumption of innocence · hearsay · witch hunt
where there's smokerandom chance
Uncontrolled probability
apophenia · making a mountain out of a molehill · witch hunt · paranoia · confirmation bias
where, there, smoke, smokes, smoked, smoking, smokiness, smoker, smokers