crocodile tear

Definition

A tear shed insincerely, in a false display of sorrow or some other emotion.

Etymology

From the ancient belief that crocodiles shed tears while consuming their prey.

Example Sentences

• "At last he contrived to squeeze out one of his little hysterical tears, and drop it on her hand. Now, the girl was not butter, like some of her sex; far from it: but neither was she wood—indeed, she was not old enough for that—so this crocodile tear won her for the time being."
• "And in all her letters since, she had spoken of her aunt as a silly, vain, worldly woman, weeping crocodile tears, for an old husband whose death had released her from the tedium of his company."

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