🚬 To inhale fumes 🚬 Smoking act 🚬 A cigarette 💨 Burning cloud ❓ A sign or hint 💨 To release gas 🌿 Marijuana ⚾ A fast pitch

smoke

113 7.2

A sign that something may be wrong or hidden

noun
/smoʊk/

: humo

You know what they say where there's smoke, there's fire.
a smoke screen
smoke and mirrors

And that's not the smoke, that's the gun, right?

Examples

It's all a smoke screen, right?

The Boost (1988)
Music was rising all around him like smoke, buoying up his heart.

Fiction book (1993)
Some things, some beautiful things are the smoke and not the fire.
This is a smoke screen.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
If it is just smoke and mirrors as it were.
In his poems I see the smoke of history around the world.
Smoke and mirrors, my friend.

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022)
The crew we're after, they hit like thunder and disappear like smoke.

Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Looks like the Cocteau plan just went up in smoke.

Demolition Man (1993)
In discussions about the economy, many theories are just smoke and mirrors.

Synonyms

phantasma

vssmoke

Literature

1 9.9

A ghost-like figure that seems real but is not

is a sign or suggestion rather than an actual appearing figure

Antonyms

truth

∞ 1.0

A fact that shows how things really are

reality

∞ 1.4

The way things really are, not how we imagine or wish

Idioms

smoke and mirrors

Informal

24 7.4

Actions that hide the truth by making things look better

to go up in smoke

Informal

18 5.5

Plans or hopes suddenly fail and disappear for good

holy smoke

Informal

14 8.2

A short cry to show strong surprise or admiration

to smoke like a chimney

Informal

3 6.8

To light and use many cigarettes every day

in a puff of smoke

Informal

2 8.4

Suddenly disappears without a clear reason

put that in your pipe and smoke it

Informal

1 9.9

Accept this fact even if you do not like it

to smoke someone's pole

Offensive

1 9.9

To use the mouth to touch a man's penis

to end in smoke

Informal

8.1

To fail completely and have no useful result

to smoke your own dope

Slang

9.9

To believe your own praise so much that you make bad choices

Compounds

smoke alarm

15 2.2

A device that makes a loud noise when it finds smoke to warn people

cloud of smoke

14 1.9

A large mass of smoke in the air from a fire

smoke signal

12 4.8

A way to send messages over long distances by making patterns of smoke

smoke screen

11 5.1

An action or statement used to hide the real reason and distract people

smoke-filled

9 3.4

Full of smoke from cigarettes or fire

puff of smoke

8 3.6

A small quick cloud of smoke that appears and disappears

smoke bomb

8 3.7

A small object that makes a thick cloud of smoke to hide people or mark a place

tobacco smoke

6 2.1

Smoke that comes from burning tobacco products like cigarettes or cigars

smoke-filled room

Literature

5 7.2

A private place where a small group makes secret decisions, often in politics

smoke screen

Specialized

5 5.5

A cloud of smoke made to hide soldiers or vehicles from view

smoke grenade

Specialized

4 5.2

A small object that makes thick smoke to hide people or mark a place

gun smoke

1 2.7

Smoke that comes out when a gun is fired

pall of smoke

1 7.3

A thick cloud of smoke that makes it hard to see

puff of white smoke

1 3.8

A small burst of white smoke from a chimney or engine

smoke hole

1 7.1

An opening in a roof or wall that lets smoke from a fire escape

smoke-cured

Specialized

1 4.9

Meat or fish preserved and given a smoky taste by drying in smoke

smoke-dried

Specialized

1 5.4

Meat or fish kept for a long time by hanging near a wood fire

smoke tree

1 7.5

A small tree or shrub with feathery flowers that look like smoke

smoke bush

1 7.6

A shrub or small tree with feathery flowers that look like puffs of smoke

prairie smoke

1 9.9

A wildflower with purple flowers and feathery seed plumes found on grassland

magic smoke

Jargon

9.9

A funny name for the smoke that comes from an electronic part when it breaks

How Strong

proof

∞ 2.5

evidence

∞ 1.8

sign

∞ 3.2

smoke

113 7.2

trace

498 3.3

Surface Forms

smoke singular

smokes plural

Etymology

The idea of smoke as a sign comes from the thought that smoke shows there may be fire, so people use 'smoke' for any sign or hint that something is true. That's why if you see 'smoke' around a story, it can mean there is some truth or only an illusion.