crocodile tears

croc·o·dile tear

C c

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [krok-uh-dahyl teer]
- /ˈkrɒk əˌdaɪl tɪər/
- /ˈkrɒk.ə.daɪl teər/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [krok-uh-dahyl teer]
- /ˈkrɒk əˌdaɪl tɪər/

Definitions of crocodile tears words

noun plural crocodile tears If someone is crying crocodile tears, their tears and sadness are not genuine or sincere. 3
noun plural crocodile tears an insincere show of grief; false tears 3
noun crocodile tears insincere tears or a hypocritical show of grief: from an old belief that crocodiles shed tears while eating their prey 3
noun crocodile tears (used with a plural verb) a hypocritical show of sorrow; insincere tears. 1
noun crocodile tears (used with a singular verb) Pathology. spontaneous tearing initiated by tasting or chewing food, occurring as a result of facial paralysis. 1
noun plural crocodile tears faked sadness 1

See all 7 definitions of crocodile tears

Information block about the term

Origin of crocodile tears

First appearance:

before 1555

One of the 31% oldest English words

First recorded in 1555-65; so called from the the ancient belief that crocodiles shed tears while eating their victims

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Crocodile tears

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Crocodile tears

crocodile tears popularity

This term is known only to a narrow circle of people with rare knowledge. Only 5% of English native speakers know the meaning of this word.

According to our data most of word are more popular. This word is almost not used. It has a much more popular synonym.

crocodile tears usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for crocodile tears

noun crocodile tears

deceit — Deceit is behaviour that is deliberately intended to make people believe something which is not true.
dirty trick — act: unfair, dishonest
fraudulence — characterized by, involving, or proceeding from fraud, as actions, enterprise, methods, or gains: a fraudulent scheme to evade taxes.

All 3 Synonyms of crocodile tears

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