crocodile tears
/ˈkrɒkədaɪl ˌtɪəz/NEUTRAL · C1
Meaning
pretended sadness or regret that is not sincere
Examples
- 1Those were crocodile tears; he started laughing the moment the teacher turned away.
- 2She shed crocodile tears over the broken cup, although she had deliberately dropped it.
- 3Her crocodile tears stopped as soon as she got the toy; she grinned and admitted she'd been pretending.
- 4I recognised the apology as crocodile tears; he'd already boasted about deliberately ruining my entry.
- 5Don't be fooled by his crocodile tears; he rehearsed that sad face before asking for his present back.
Grammar
Plural: crocodile tears. Often after shed or cry; keep crocodile singular.
Similar in meaning
More idioms about animals
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →an eager beaversomeone very keen to work harda red herringsomething that distracts attention from the real issuethe black sheepsomeone whose behaviour embarrasses their family or grouplike water off a duck's backhaving no effect on someone despite criticism or warningshave bigger fish to fryto have more important things to deal withhave a bee in your bonnetto keep talking about an idea you consider very important
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
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