Word.ws English Dictionary

smell like a tart's handbag

smell like a tart's handbag verb: to smell strongly of perfume.

Verb

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

  1. (UK, derogatory, idiomatic, slang, simile) To smell strongly of perfume.
    • "Phew," he said, following her into the room. "It smells like a tart's handbag in here."2004, Carole Matthews, The Scent of Scandal, page 12

Synonyms of smell like a tart's handbag

Forms of smell like a tart's handbag

third-person singular presentsmells like a tart's handbag
present participlesmelling like a tart's handbag
past participlesmelt like a tart's handbag
pastsmelt like a tart's handbag
past participlesmelled like a tart's handbag
pastsmelled like a tart's handbag

Questions about smell like a tart's handbag

What does smell like a tart's handbag mean?
Smell like a tart's handbag means to smell strongly of perfume.
What part of speech is smell like a tart's handbag?
Smell like a tart's handbag is a verb.
What is the past tense of smell like a tart's handbag?
The past tense of smell like a tart's handbag is smelt like a tart's handbag.

Words near smell like a tart's handbag in the dictionary

  1. smell fox
  2. smell foxes
  3. smell like a rose
  4. smell like a tart's bedroom
  5. smell like a tart's boudoir
  6. smell like a tart's handbag
  7. smell like a tart's handkerchief
  8. smell of an oily rag
  9. smell of the lamp
  10. smell of the shop
  11. smell one's own farts

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: smell like a tart's handbag (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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