Phrase guide

money does not smell

proverb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

proverb

Meaning 1

The value of money is not affected by the business it comes from, even from the most unpleasant one.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Calque of Latin pecūnia nōn olet, said to be Vespasian's reply to his son Titus, who was complaining about the urine tax he had imposed.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: المَالُ لَا يَنْتِنُ (al-mālu lā yantinu) — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Belarusian: гро́шы не па́хнуць (hróšy nje páxnucʹ) — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Breton: gant an arc'hant n'eus c'hwezh ebet — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Catalan: els doblers no fan olor — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Czech: peníze nesmrdí — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Dutch: geld stinkt niet — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Esperanto: mono odoron ne havas — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Finnish: raha ei haise — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • French: l'argent n'a pas d'odeur — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • German: Geld stinkt nicht — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Italian: il denaro non puzza — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Italian: il denaro non ha odore — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Polish: pieniądze nie śmierdzą — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Polish: pieniądz nie śmierdzi — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Portuguese: o dinheiro não tem cheiro — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Russian: де́ньги не па́хнут (dénʹgi ne páxnut) — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Serbo-Croatian: но̀вац не смрди — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Serbo-Croatian: nòvac ne smrdi — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Slovene: denár nȅ smŕdi — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Spanish: el dinero no huele — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Spanish: el dinero no tiene olor — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Swedish: pengar luktar inte — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Tamil: கசு மனம் இலை (kacu maṉam ilai) — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Turkish: para kokmaz — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business
  • Ukrainian: гро́ші не па́хнуть (hróši ne páxnutʹ) — the value of money is not affected even by the most unpleasant business