English

Verb

cry wolf ‎(third-person singular simple present cries wolf, present participle crying wolf, simple past and past participle cried wolf)

1. (idiomatic) To raise a false alarm; to constantly warn others about an imagined threat, thereby failing to get assistance when a real threat appears.

   The politicians would cry wolf at the slightest provocation so when the real threat appeared no one believed them.

See also

• Chicken Little

Translations

Quotations

• 1907, H. G. Wells, The War in the Air, chapter II, section 4

  The newspaper placards that had cried "wolf!" so often, cried "wolf!" now in vain.

• 1919, H. L. Mencken, The American Language, chapter 5

  ...and the critical sense of the professors counts for little, for they cry wolf too often...

• 1983, Ronald Reagan, Presidential Radio Address - 15 October, 1983

  ...those who created the worst economic mess in postwar history should be the last people crying wolf 1,000 days into this administration...