crocodile tear
A tear shed insincerely, in a false display of sorrow or some other emotionA tear shed insincerely, in a false display of sorrow or some other emotion.
» A crocodile tore off his leg.
Крокодил оторвал ему ногу. — marafon
AlanF_US · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 senses(idiomatic)A tear shed insincerely, in a false display of sorrow or some other emotion.
Krokodilsträne
крокоди́лова слеза́krokodílova slezá
(idiomatic, in the plural)A display of tears that is forced or false.
Krokodilstränen
крокоди́ловы слёзыkrokodílovy sljózy
крокодиля́чі сльо́зиkrokodyljáči slʹózy
Examples
10 sentencesA crocodile tore off his leg.
ruКрокодил оторвал ему ногу. — marafon
A crocodile tore off her leg.
ruКрокодил оторвал ей ногу. — marafon
A crocodile tore off his arm.
ruКрокодил оторвал ему руку. — marafon
A crocodile tore off her arm.
ruКрокодил оторвал ей руку. — marafon
deEin Krokodil riss ihr den Arm ab. — mramosch
She shed crocodile tears over his death.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 2
By meaning 2
Origin
From the ancient belief that crocodiles shed tears while consuming their prey.From the ancient belief that crocodiles shed tears while consuming their prey.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: crocodile tears| Singular | crocodile tear |
|---|---|
| Plural | crocodile tears |
regular