no smoke without fire
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To every scandal there is some foundation. Every effect is the result of some cause.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “no smoke without fire” mean?
To every scandal there is some foundation. Every effect is the result of some cause.
Is “no smoke without fire” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.