Up in Smoke.
English
idiom
Vanished, wasted or failed completely.
Trusted by1.5M+English learners & teachers worldwide
Vanished, wasted or failed completely.
Trusted by1.5M+English learners & teachers worldwide
To be completely ruined, wasted, or destroyed — especially plans, hopes, or money.
When something goes up in smoke, it disappears or fails completely, often after significant effort or investment.
It is used to describe total loss or failure, usually with a sense of frustration or disappointment.
"Down the Drain"
—
Wasted or lost with no return, often used for money or effort that produced nothing
"Go Up in Flames"
—
Being destroyed suddenly and dramatically, often with more intensity than going up in smoke
"Up in Smoke"
—
Being completely ruined or lost, especially plans or investments that fail entirely
The client just cancelled the entire contract — six months of work.
That's devastating — all that effort going up in smoke. Let's debrief and learn what we can.
I invested most of my savings into that project and it failed.
I'm so sorry — watching money go up in smoke like that is genuinely painful.
Whatever happened to the travel plans you spent months organizing?
All went up in smoke — the airline collapsed and we couldn't rebook in time.
