Word.ws English Dictionary

come up smelling like a rose

come up smelling like a rose is the alternative form of smell like a rose.

Meaning of smell like a rose

Verb

smell like a rose (third-person singular simple present smells like a rose, present participle smelling like a rose, simple past and past participle smelt like a rose or smelled like a rose)

  1. (colloquial, idiomatic, simile) To be regarded as appealing, virtuous, or respectable; to be untainted or unharmed.
    • come out smelling like a rose

Forms of come up smelling like a rose

third-person singular presentcomes up smelling like a rose
present participlecoming up smelling like a rose
pastcame up smelling like a rose
past participlecome up smelling like a rose

Questions about come up smelling like a rose

What is come up smelling like a rose the alternative form of?
Come up smelling like a rose is the alternative form of smell like a rose.

Words near come up smelling like a rose in the dictionary

  1. come up and bite
  2. come up and bitten
  3. come up from behind
  4. come up roses
  5. come up short
  6. come up smelling like a rose
  7. come up smelling of roses
  8. come up snake eyes
  9. come up to
  10. come up trumps
  11. come up with

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: come up smelling like a rose (page history and authors); smell like a rose (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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