Phrase guide

stop and smell the roses

verb · 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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verb

Meaning 1

To relax; to take time out of one's busy schedule to enjoy or appreciate the beauty of life.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Word forms

Inflections and variants

stops and smells the roses — present, singular, third-person
stopping and smelling the roses — participle, present
stopped and smelled the roses — participle, past
stopped and smelled the roses — past
stopped and smelt the roses — participle, past
stopped and smelt the roses — past
smell the roses — alternative
stop and smell the flowers — alternative
stop to smell the roses — alternative

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: none provided

Related: gather rosebuds, seize the day

Semantic map

Other relationships

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Changes made: Wiktionary markup was removed and matching senses were grouped; WordNet and CMUdict evidence was merged into the canonical word page. Source quotations with separate cited works are not republished.

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