smell fishy

Slang Dictionary

smell fishy definition


  1. in.
    to seem suspicious. (See also fishy.) : Marlowe squinted a bit. Something smells fishy here, he thought.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Smell fishy is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

smell fishy

Be suspect or suspicious, as in His explanation definitely smells fishy; my guess is that he's lying. This idiom alludes to the fact that fresh fish have no odor but stale or rotten ones do. [Early 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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