Meaning

2 senses
  1. (idiomatic)A tear shed insincerely, in a false display of sorrow or some other emotion.

    Krokodilsträne

    крокоди́лова слеза́krokodílova slezá

  2. (idiomatic, in the plural)A display of tears that is forced or false.

    Krokodilstränen

    крокоди́ловы слёзыkrokodílovy sljózy

    крокодиля́чі сльо́зиkrokodyljáči slʹózy

Examples

10 sentences
  1. A crocodile tore off his leg.

    ruКрокодил оторвал ему ногу. — marafon

  2. A crocodile tore off her leg.

    ruКрокодил оторвал ей ногу. — marafon

  3. A crocodile tore off his arm.

    ruКрокодил оторвал ему руку. — marafon

  4. A crocodile tore off her arm.

    ruКрокодил оторвал ей руку. — marafon

    deEin Krokodil riss ihr den Arm ab. — mramosch

  5. She shed crocodile tears over his death.

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
display of tears that is forced or false:
Русский
By meaning 2
tear shed falsely:
display of tears that is forced or false:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
tear shed falsely:
display of tears that is forced or false:

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
Singularcrocodile tear
Pluralcrocodile tears

regular

Word family

3 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
crocodile tear — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto