Meanings
plural white smokes
- countableuncountableCatholicismWhite-colored smoke serving as an announcement to the outside world that a conclave has chosen a new Pope.
Antonyms: black smoke
- countablefigurativelyuncountableAn event of reaching an agreement.
Sit yourselves down together until the white smoke comes out.
- countableuncountableA shade of white.
- countableslanguncountableThe drug methamphetamine.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounWhite-colored smoke serving as an announcement to the outside world that a conclave has chosen a new Pope.
Origin
From the ancient practice of announcing the result of a papal election. If the election was successful, i.e. a candidate received two-thirds majority in the College of Cardinals, the inspected ballots were burned in the stove of the Sistine Chapel of Vatican, resulting in white smoke spewing out from the chimney. If the required majority was not reached, damp straw was added to the stove, resulting in black smoke. A similar effect is achieved in modern times with chemicals. Compare Italian fumata bianca (“white smoke”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan fum blanc
- fum blancannouncement that a conclave has chosen a new Pope
Finnish valkoinen savu
- valkoinen savuevent of reaching an agreement
French fumée blanche
- fumée blancheannouncement that a conclave has chosen a new Pope
German weißer Rauch, weißer Rauch
- weißer Rauchannouncement that a conclave has chosen a new Pope
- weißer Rauchevent of reaching an agreement
Italian fumata bianca
- fumata biancaannouncement that a conclave has chosen a new Pope
Russian бе́лый дым
- бе́лый дым (bélyj dym)announcement that a conclave has chosen a new Pope
Cite this entry
white smoke. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white%20smoke
“white smoke.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white%20smoke. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “white smoke,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white%20smoke.
Source: white smoke on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.