Meaning of smoke-filled room | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A place where powerful people meet to decide a matter in secret, often of a political nature.
   idiomatic
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see smoke, filled, room.

Examples

“Near-synonym: backroom (as a meeting place⟳ of crooked insiders)”

“In its first decade, prize business was settled in the smoke-filled rooms of London clubs, where it remained resolutely insular.”

“If the forums in which we make⟳ this case consist⟳ of the smoke-filled rooms of Washington, the votes aren't there.”

CEFR level