CROCODILE TEARS • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Crocodile tears

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/krˈɑkədˌaɪl tɛrz/ Listen

Crocodile tears

noun

A hypocritical display of sorrow; false or insincere weeping. "Politicians shed crocodile tears over the plight of the unemployed"

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Etymology of 'Crocodile tears'

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"Crocodile tears" Quotes from Famous Books

... very sweet to Webb, while tender-hearted Johnnie was exceedingly remorseful, and wished to know whether "the bunnies, if put by the fire, would not come to life before morning." Indeed, there was a general chorus of commiseration, which Burt brought to a prosaic conclusion by saying: "Crocodile tears, every one. You'll all enjoy the pot-pie to-morrow with great gusto. By the way, I'll prop up one of these little fellows at the foot of Ned's crib, and in the morning he'll think that the original 'Br'er Rabbit' has hopped out of Uncle Remus's ...

— Nature's Serial Story • E. P. Roe

... I confessed, "in the sense that they certainly were not crocodile tears; but I am somewhat at a loss to explain them from a sensible, American standpoint. Of course my Jacobitism is purely impersonal, though scarcely more so than yours, at this late day; at least it is merely a poetic sentiment, for which Caroline, Baroness Nairne, is mainly ...

— Penelope's Experiences in Scotland • Kate Douglas Wiggin

... they have no valid claim, have not sought their remedy. Relying upon empty (because false) denunciation, they have made it a point of honor to show what can be shown by judicial investigation; i. e., that there being no debt, there has been no default. The crocodile tears which have been shed over ruined creditors, are on a par with the baseless denunciations which have been heaped upon the State. Those bonds were purchased by a bank then tottering to its fall—purchased in violation of the charter of the bank, or fraudulently, ...

— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 2, August, 1863 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

Words linked to "Crocodile tears" : lip service, hypocrisy