Word.ws English Dictionary

smelling like a rose

smelling like a rose is the present participle and gerund 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

Questions about smelling like a rose

What is smelling like a rose the present participle and gerund of?
Smelling like a rose is the present participle and gerund of smell like a rose.

Words near smelling like a rose in the dictionary

  1. smelling a rat
  2. smelling aid
  3. smelling blood
  4. smelling bottle
  5. smelling bottles
  6. smelling like a rose
  7. smelling like a tart's bedroom
  8. smelling like a tart's boudoir
  9. smelling like a tart's handbag
  10. smelling like a tart's handkerchief
  11. smelling of the lamp

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: 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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Cite this entry: “smelling like a rose.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smelling_like_a_rose. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.