a crying shame
a crying shame
Something that is problematic and inopportune. It's a crying shame that the car just died—I planned to give it to you some day. That poor kid was finally having a breakout year—it's a crying shame he got injured. A: "I really think this gap in my resume from caring for my mom is the only thing keeping me from getting hired." B: "Well, that's a crying shame."
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
crying shame
Fig. a very unfortunate situation; a real shame. It's a crying shame that people cannot afford adequate housing. That your father could not attend graduation was a crying shame.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
crying shame, a
An unfortunate situation, as in It's a crying shame that Bob can't find a job. This term may well come from the now obsolete to cry shame upon, meaning "express vigorous disapproval or censure," current from about 1600 to the mid-1800s.
See also: crying
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.