go up in flames

Idioms  

1. Also, go up in smoke. Be utterly destroyed, as in This project will go up in flames if the designer quits, or All our work is going up in smoke. This idiom transfers a fire to other kinds of destruction. [Early 1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

go up in flames

He might still be young by soccer standards, but he’s no longer the kid who landed in Qatar as a teenager and watched his career go up in flames.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

But Blue Origin just saw its plans go up in flames during a ground test explosion of its flagship New Glenn rocket, which damaged their launch platform and heralded delays.

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

He estimated there are more than 400 tons of dead and downed material per acre that could go up in flames.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2025

Forest rangers are concerned about forests that haven’t burned in decades, which contain an abundance of downed wood waiting to go up in flames.

From Slate ● Nov. 12, 2024

I can understand how afraid and scared she was to see her city go up in flames, because my city was on fire, too.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers