come up/out smelling of roses

uk (US come up/out smelling like roses)

Definition

› to have people believe that you are good and honest after a difficult situation that could have made you seem bad or dishonest: When the results of the fraud investigation were announced last week, the staff came up smelling of roses.Innocent

(Definition of come up/out smelling of roses from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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Synonyms and related words:

to get rid of something or someone that is not wanted or needed

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