How do you say “Smell a rat” in Spanish?
The closest natural Spanish equivalent is oler a gato encerrado, which literally means “to smell of a shut-in cat”. English speakers use smell a rat to mean to suspect that something dishonest is happening. A close Spanish expression for something seeming suspicious. It is normally the situation, not the person, that smells. Register: informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural Spanish
oler a gato encerrado
/oˈleɾ a ˈɣato enseˈraðo/
- Literal meaning
- “to smell of a shut-in cat”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
95 out of 100
What a native Spanish speaker would actually say
“Esto me huele a gato encerrado” means something here seems suspicious to me. It keeps the feeling of detecting a hidden problem.
“Aquí hay gato encerrado” is a firmer statement that something is going on. Use “me huele a” when you want to present it as your suspicion.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone5 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity4 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
In context
English
I smelled a rat when the seller refused to show me the bicycle.
Spanish
Me olió a gato encerrado cuando el vendedor se negó a enseñarme la bicicleta.
English
They changed their story three times, and we began to smell a rat.
Spanish
Cambiaron de versión tres veces, y aquello empezó a olernos a gato encerrado.
Related expressions
Last updated 2026-10-01