in tears
64
2.0
- idiom
:
llorando
- When she heard the sad news, she was in tears and couldn't stop crying.
- break down in tears
- dissolve in tears
- almost in tears
But you know, also to sit with her when she's in tears about something.
- But you know, also to sit with her when she's in tears about something.
- She's going through a big crisis and she's in tears and she's having a rough time.
- And these guys were silent, some in tears.
- And she was just in tears listening to him.
- You could run off stage in tears.
- The staff said that she often left them in tears and that she felt like she was bullied.
- She contacts me about once every few months, often in tears.
- So you guys literally had me in tears in my last video.
- It would have been me in tears for two or three months straight.
- But I'm upstairs and I'm nearly in tears because I know that's the end.
- And Andrew was like like went home like nearly in tears and he was mortified.
- I just sat on a living room floor in tears, like, yeah, happy birthday.
- And they are in tears over the fact that it's tight.
- I, it's not like he was in tears and we had this, you know, it wasn't that.
Examples
-
That third act had me in tears.
-
Josie almost lost her nerve and collapsed in tears before her.
Fiction book (1990) -
And she was just in tears listening to him.
-
And every time I see them, they are in tears over how much they hurt.
-
My daughter was in tears when she called me.
-
But the next morning, she was in tears at the kitchen table.
Fiction book (1991) -
I could take no more and left the meeting in tears.
Academic text (2015) -
No, Dad called me in tears, said my big brother needed some moral support.
-
Alicia broke down in tears when her grandmother told her of her loss.
Academic text (1992) -
But I'm upstairs and I'm nearly in tears because I know that's the end.
Synonyms
26
1.8
Showing you are about to cry because of a strong feeling
21
2.0
Having eyes that look ready to cry
20
3.7
Feeling like you want to cry easily
9
3.2
With eyes full of tears because of strong feeling or something in the eye
5
4.8
Eyes are wet with tears because of strong feeling
5
4.3
Feeling strong emotion that makes you cry
2
3.7
Wet and marked from crying, often on cheeks or a pillow
1
4.6
To make someone cry because of a strong feeling like sadness or joy
1
9.9
Showing sadness or making people want to cry
Antonyms
How Tearful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines 'in' (indicating a state or condition) with 'tears' (the noun for crying), so its meaning 'being in a state of crying' is directly and compositionally derivable. This prepositional-state pattern is common in English and across many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand it.
Etymology
The expression in tears gives a clear picture: someone with their face wet and covered in tears, unable to stop crying. So it means 'crying' or being very upset.