crocodiles' tears
Insincere show sorrow
Crocodiles' tears are a false or insincere display of sorrow.
The expression comes from an old belief that crocodiles weep while devouring their prey.
Someone crying crocodiles' tears or shedding crocodiles' tears feigns grief or sympathy they don't actually feel: His apology was nothing but crocodiles' tears.
Usually spelled crocodile tears.
- insincerityLack of genuine feeling
- crying wolfIssuing false warnings
- wolf in sheep's clothingConcealed threat appearing innocent
- snake in the grassSecretly treacherous person
- eyesOrgans of sight
dissimulation · duplicity · fake crying · emotional manipulation · hypocrisy · allegory · deceitfulness · pretense · put on an act · artifice · playing the victim · Machiavellianism · sociopathy · guilt-tripping · narcissism · drip · reptile · myth
crocodiles' tearsfrom the heart
Genuinely and deeply meant
heartfelt condolences · wearing one's heart on one's sleeve · inconsolable
crocodiles' tearssincerity
Honest, unfeigned genuineness
honesty · candor · genuineness · authenticity · forthrightness
crocodile, crocodiles, tear, tears, teary, tearful, tearfully, tearfulness, tearless