smell like a rose

Definitions

To be regarded as appealing, virtuous, or respectable; to be untainted or unharmed.

colloquial, idiomatic

Examples

“come⟳ out smelling like⟳ a rose”

“"I don't suppose⟳ anyone from the director down will come⟳ out of this deal⟳ smelling like⟳ a rose," the warden commented, "but our only hope⟳ is that some good will result⟳ from the hearing."”

“But compared to others, Dent came out of the Depression "smelling like⟳ a rose." He later boasted that he made $18,000 a year with his writing during the Depression.”

“The champion of corporate governance should smell⟳ like⟳ a rose. Instead, there's an unpleasant whiff of pork-barrel politics rising from the board⟳.”

CEFR level