sweet smell of success
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
a pleasant feeling of achieving something
Literally: pleasant odor of accomplishment
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
After landing her dream job, she couldn't get enough of the sweet smell of success
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
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Common questions
What does “sweet smell of success” mean?
a pleasant feeling of achieving something Literally: pleasant odor of accomplishment
Is “sweet smell of success” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
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