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Synonyms

smoke-filled room

American

[smohk-fild, -fild] / ˈsmoʊkˌfɪld, -ˈfɪld /

noun

a place, as a hotel room, for conducting secret negotiations, effecting compromises, devising strategy, etc.

smoke-filled room Cultural

A popular expression used to describe a place where the political wheeling and dealing of machine bosses (see machine politics) is conducted. The image originated during the Republican presidential nominating convention of 1920, in which Warren G. Harding emerged as a dark horse candidate.

Etymology

Origin of smoke-filled room

First recorded in 1915–20

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.