Chicken Little
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of Chicken Little
From a character in nursery tales (also known as Henny Penny, Chicken-Diddle, or Chicken-Licken) who, when struck on the head by an object from above, panics and believes that the sky is falling
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Our kids need us to not be chicken little about every respiratory illness.”
From Washington Times • Sep. 7, 2023
Its mascot is a cartoon green chicken, in line with their tagline: “If chicken little got a Bloomberg terminal.”
From Washington Post • Jan. 5, 2023
In the middle are the 15% undecided who don't believe either and don't respond to chicken little predictions.
From New York Times • Sep. 19, 2016
I’m no epidemic chicken little, but monitoring and testing for infection after entry to the U.S. seems too passive and reactive a policy for an active epidemic killer.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 28, 2014
One man sold nine eggs for about 2/- of which only three were fit to eat and demanded 4/- for a chicken little larger than a pigeon.
From A Journal of a Tour in the Congo Free State by Dorman, Marcus Roberts Phipps
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
