no smoke, no fire
there's no smoke without fire
There is usually truth behind a rumor, suspicion, or bad sign. We decided to investigate the company's financial statements, since they had been paying next to no tax even though their profits were way up. There's no smoke without fire, after all. A lot of people have been saying that he cheated on the exam, and while I don't want to believe it, there's no smoke without fire.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
no smoke, no fire
See where there's smoke, there's fire.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer