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Glite Dictionary
to turn on the waterworks

to turn on the waterworks

1 8.4
To start crying to make someone feel sorry for you
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : echar a llorar
  • Whenever she wants something, she starts to turn on the waterworks to get her way.

Examples

  • She knew it was time to turn on the waterworks when she saw how upset he was.

  • Just because you turned on the waterworks?

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Your mom's gonna turn on the waterworks.

    Soul on Fire (2025)

  • He turned on the waterworks during the meeting to gain sympathy from his colleagues.

Synonyms

to cry a river
vsto turn on the waterworks
  • Informal
1 8.7

Complain a lot in a dramatic way about something that upsets you

involves actual crying often used to seek sympathy or manipulate
to cry like a pissbaby
vsto turn on the waterworks
  • Offensive
9.9

To cry in a very childish way when upset

is similar but aims to get sympathy or manipulate others

Antonyms

to keep it together
  • Informal
27 5.4

To stay calm and control your feelings in a difficult situation

to dry one's eyes
  • Informal
4.2

Stop crying and feel calm again

How Tearful

to break down
111 3.9
to sob
15 1.0
to turn on the waterworks
  • Informal
1 8.4
to well up
23 5.2

Surface Forms

turn on the waterworks infinitive
turned on the waterworks past
turned on the waterworks past participle
turning on the waterworks present participle
turns on the waterworks third person singular

Morphology

turn + on + the + waterworks

The phrasal verb 'turn on' clearly means 'activate' and 'waterworks' literally denotes a system that produces water, so a learner who knows the constituents could plausibly infer 'activate a flow of water' and thereby 'start producing tears.' However, the pragmatic nuance that the crying is often performed to elicit sympathy or manipulate listeners is an idiomatic extension that a B1 learner would not reliably predict without prior exposure.

Etymology

Turn on the waterworks imagines tears as a system of taps and pipes: to turn on a tap makes the waterworks run and the water pour out. So it means 'to begin crying', often 'to get sympathy' or make people feel sorry.