Meanings
nouncrocodile tear (plural crocodile tears)
plural crocodile tears
- idiomaticA tear shed insincerely, in a false display of sorrow or some other emotion.
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.
1877, Charles Reade, chapter 2, in A Woman-Hater - idiomaticin pluralA display of tears that is forced or false.
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.
1864, Anthony Trollope, chapter 19, in Can You Forgive Her?
Origin
From the ancient belief that crocodiles shed tears while consuming their prey.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans krokodiltrane
- krokodiltranedisplay of tears that is forced or false
Arabic دُمُوع اَلتَّمَاسِيح
- دُمُوع اَلتَّمَاسِيح (dumūʕ at-tamāsīḥ)display of tears that is forced or false
Basque krokodilo-malkoak
- krokodilo-malkoakdisplay of tears that is forced or false
Bengali কুমিরের কান্না
- কুমিরের কান্না (kumirer kanna)display of tears that is forced or false
Bulgarian крокодилски сълзи
- крокодилски сълзи (krokodilski sălzi)display of tears that is forced or false
Catalan llàgrima de cocodril, llàgrimes de cocodril
- llàgrima de cocodriltear shed falsely
- llàgrimes de cocodrildisplay of tears that is forced or false
Chinese Mandarin 鱷魚的眼淚 /鳄鱼的眼泪, 貓哭耗子假慈悲 /猫哭耗子假慈悲
- 鱷魚的眼淚 /鳄鱼的眼泪 (èyú de yǎnlèi)tear shed falsely
- 貓哭耗子假慈悲 /猫哭耗子假慈悲 (māo kū hàozi jiǎ cíbēi)display of tears that is forced or false
- 貓哭耗子 /猫哭耗子 (māo kū hàozi)display of tears that is forced or false
- 假慈悲 (jiǎ cíbēi)display of tears that is forced or false
- 鱷魚的眼淚 /鳄鱼的眼泪 (èyú de yǎnlèi)display of tears that is forced or false
Czech krokodýlí slza, krokodýlí slzy
- krokodýlí slzatear shed falsely
- krokodýlí slzydisplay of tears that is forced or false
Danish krokodilletåre, krokodilletårer
- krokodilletåretear shed falsely
- krokodilletårerdisplay of tears that is forced or false
Dutch krokodillentranen
- krokodillentranendisplay of tears that is forced or false
Esperanto krokodilaj larmoj
- krokodilaj larmojdisplay of tears that is forced or false
Estonian krokodillipisarad
- krokodillipisaraddisplay of tears that is forced or false
Finnish krokotiilinkyynel, krokotiilinkyyneleet
- krokotiilinkyyneltear shed falsely
- krokotiilinkyyneleetdisplay of tears that is forced or false
French larmes de crocodile, larmes de crocodile
- larmes de crocodiletear shed falsely
- larmes de crocodiledisplay of tears that is forced or false
German Krokodilsträne, Krokodilstränen
- Krokodilstränetear shed falsely
- Krokodilstränendisplay of tears that is forced or false
Greek κροκοδείλια δάκρυα
- κροκοδείλια δάκρυα (krokodeília dákrya)display of tears that is forced or false
Hebrew דִּמְעוֹת תַּנִּין
- דִּמְעוֹת תַּנִּין (dim'ót tanín)display of tears that is forced or false
Hindi घड़ियाल के आँसू, घड़ियाली आँसू
- घड़ियाल के आँसू (ghaṛiyāl ke ā̃sū)display of tears that is forced or false
- घड़ियाली आँसू (ghaṛiyālī ā̃sū)display of tears that is forced or false
- नक्राश्रु (nakrāśru)display of tears that is forced or false
- मगरमच्छ के आँसू (magarmacch ke ā̃sū)display of tears that is forced or false
Hungarian krokodilkönny, krokodilkönnyek
- krokodilkönnytear shed falsely
- krokodilkönnyekdisplay of tears that is forced or false
Icelandic hræsnistár, krókódílstár
- hræsnistárdisplay of tears that is forced or false
- krókódílstárdisplay of tears that is forced or false
- uppgerðarhryggðdisplay of tears that is forced or false
Indonesian air mata buaya, air mata buaya
- air mata buayatear shed falsely
- air mata buayadisplay of tears that is forced or false
Irish deoir bhréag, deoir bhréagach
- deoir bhréagtear shed falsely
- deoir bhréagachtear shed falsely
- deoir bhréagdisplay of tears that is forced or false
- deoir bhréagachdisplay of tears that is forced or false
- deora bréigedisplay of tears that is forced or false
Italian lacrime di coccodrillo
- lacrime di coccodrillodisplay of tears that is forced or false
Japanese 空涙, 嘘泣き
- 空涙 (soranamida)tear shed falsely
- 嘘泣き (usonaki)display of tears that is forced or false
Korean 악어의 눈물
- 악어의 눈물 (ageo-ui nunmul)display of tears that is forced or false
Latin lacrimula
- lacrimulatear shed falsely
Latvian krokodila asaras
- krokodila asarasdisplay of tears that is forced or false
Lithuanian krokodilo ašaros
- krokodilo ašarosdisplay of tears that is forced or false
Malay air mata buaya, air mata buaya
- air mata buayatear shed falsely
- air mata buayadisplay of tears that is forced or false
Māori tangi kurī
- tangi kurīdisplay of tears that is forced or false
Norwegian krokodilletårer
- krokodilletårerdisplay of tears that is forced or false
Persian اشک تمساح, اشک تمساح
- اشک تمساح (ašk-e temsâh)tear shed falsely
- اشک تمساح (ašk-e temsâh)display of tears that is forced or false
Polish krokodyle łzy
- krokodyle łzydisplay of tears that is forced or false
Portuguese lágrima de crocodilo, lágrimas de crocodilo
- lágrima de crocodilotear shed falsely
- lágrimas de crocodilodisplay of tears that is forced or false
Russian крокоди́лова слеза́, крокоди́ловы слёзы
- крокоди́лова слеза́ (krokodílova slezá)tear shed falsely
- крокоди́ловы слёзы (krokodílovy sljózy)display of tears that is forced or false
Scottish Gaelic deur nam breug, deòir nam breugan
- deur nam breugtear shed falsely
- deòir nam breugandisplay of tears that is forced or false
- gal tioramdisplay of tears that is forced or false
- chan eil deur air an t-sùil ged a tha an cù a' caoineadhdisplay of tears that is forced or false
Slovak krokodília slza
- krokodília slzatear shed falsely
Spanish lágrimas de cocodrilo, lágrimas de cocodrilo
- lágrimas de cocodrilotear shed falsely
- lágrimas de cocodrilodisplay of tears that is forced or false
Swedish krokodiltår, krokodiltårar
- krokodiltårtear shed falsely
- krokodiltårardisplay of tears that is forced or false
Tagalog luha ng buwaya, luha ng buwaya
- luha ng buwayatear shed falsely
- luha ng buwayadisplay of tears that is forced or false
Tamil நீலிக்கண்ணீர், முதலைக்கண்ணீர்
- நீலிக்கண்ணீர் (nīlikkaṇṇīr)tear shed falsely
- முதலைக்கண்ணீர் (mutalaikkaṇṇīr)tear shed falsely
- நீலிக்கண்ணீர் (nīlikkaṇṇīr)display of tears that is forced or false
- முதலைக்கண்ணீர் (mutalaikkaṇṇīr)display of tears that is forced or false
Thai น้ำตาจระเข้, น้ำตาจระเข้
- น้ำตาจระเข้ (nám-dtaa-jɔɔ-rá-kêe)tear shed falsely
- น้ำตาจระเข้ (nám-dtaa-jɔɔ-rá-kêe)display of tears that is forced or false
Turkish timsah gözyaşları
- timsah gözyaşlarıdisplay of tears that is forced or false
Ukrainian крокодиля́чі сльо́зи
- крокодиля́чі сльо́зи (krokodyljáči slʹózy)display of tears that is forced or false
Vietnamese nước mắt cá sấu, nước mắt cá sấu
- nước mắt cá sấutear shed falsely
- nước mắt cá sấudisplay of tears that is forced or false
Welsh deigryn crocodeil, dagrau crocodeil
- deigryn crocodeiltear shed falsely
- dagrau crocodeildisplay of tears that is forced or false
- wylofain crocodeildisplay of tears that is forced or false
Cite this entry
APA
crocodile tear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crocodile%20tear
MLA
“crocodile tear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crocodile%20tear. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crocodile tear,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crocodile%20tear.
Source: crocodile tear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.