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.
“I’m concerned that people will think it was the Chicken Little, you know, ‘Y’all said the sky was falling, and now nothing’s happened,’” she said in a phone interview.
From Salon • Jul. 18, 2025
"We need to take these glaciers seriously without sounding like Chicken Little," Joughin said in an email.
From Fox News • Feb. 2, 2022
“I know so much about what’s happening in that state that I am like Chicken Little, running around going, ‘Everyone get out, but everyone stay because it’s also a great state.’
From Slate • Jul. 26, 2021
“A Children’s Bible” passionately fuses the two: “You’ve gotta be Chicken Little sooner or later.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 3, 2020
Problem was, my inner voice resembled Chicken Little: it was screaming that I was about to die, but it did that almost every time I laced up my climbing boots.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
