Meanings
verbsmell fishy (third-person singular simple present smells fishy, present participle smelling fishy, simple past and past participle smelled fishy or smelt fishy)
present singular third person smells fishy · participle present smelling fishy · participle past smelled fishy · past smelled fishy · participle past smelt fishy · past smelt fishy
- idiomaticinformalTo seem suspicious.
Translations
Dutch daar zit een luchtje aan
- daar zit een luchtje aanTranslations
Esperanto esti suspektinda
- esti suspektindaTranslations
Finnish olla koira haudattuna
- olla koira haudattunaTranslations
French puer, sentir l'arnaque
- puerTranslations
- sentir l'arnaqueTranslations
- y avoir anguille sous rocheTranslations
German spanisch vorkommen
- spanisch vorkommenTranslations
Polish but see coś się święci
- but see coś się święciTranslations
Portuguese cheirar a esturro
- cheirar a esturroTranslations
Spanish oler a pólvora, oler a chamusquina
- oler a pólvoraTranslations
- oler a chamusquinaTranslations
- oler a cuerno quemadoTranslations
- dar mala espinaTranslations
Cite this entry
APA
smell fishy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smell%20fishy
MLA
“smell fishy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smell%20fishy. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “smell fishy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smell%20fishy.
Source: smell fishy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.