Word.ws English Dictionary

what was someone smoking

what was someone smoking phrase: used to express surprise about someone's uncharacteristic or wacky, offbeat past actions.

Phrase

what was someone smoking?

  1. (humorous, idiomatic) Used to express surprise about someone's uncharacteristic or wacky, offbeat past actions.
    • The SGZ is primarily a signal that Alfa Romeo is back in business as serious maker of serious cars although the Zagato body puts one in mind of the FI team owner whose response to a new car was to ask his designer 'What were you smoking when you designed that?'1996, Mark Lawrence, A to Z of sports cars, 1945-1990, page 1943
    • “...We don't want to live there. It's dark, creepy and it stank. What were you smoking when you bought this place? Hope you bought it real cheap, where is your change at?”
      “Shut the hell up”, James snapped back. “I'm your daddy and you going to live where I move you”.2005, Gemäse Simmons, Worth Fighting For!: The Tragedies & Triumphs of Professor Renee ..., page 25

Origin of what was someone smoking

Suggesting the smoking of mind-altering drugs.

Questions about what was someone smoking

What does what was someone smoking mean?
What was someone smoking means used to express surprise about someone's uncharacteristic or wacky, offbeat past actions.
What part of speech is what was someone smoking?
What was someone smoking is a phrase.

Words near what was someone smoking in the dictionary

  1. what time
  2. what time do you make it
  3. what time have you got
  4. what time is it
  5. what up
  6. what was someone smoking
  7. what was someone thinking
  8. what was that
  9. what was your first clue
  10. what way the wind is blowing
  11. what wins on Sunday sells on Monday

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: what was someone smoking (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-what was someone smoking.ogg.

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