cry wolf

Idioms and Phrases

Raise a false alarm, as in Helen's always crying wolf about attempted break-ins, but the police can never find any evidence . This term comes from the tale about a young shepherd watching his flock who, lonely and fearful, called for help by shouting “Wolf!” After people came to his aid several times and saw no wolf, they ignored his cries when a wolf actually attacked his sheep. The tale appeared in a translation of Aesop's fables by Roger L'Estrange (1692), and the expression has been applied to any false alarm since the mid-1800s.

Example Sentences

Then recalled Farley Mowat marking territory this way in his famous book Never Cry Wolf.

From The Daily Beast

And so fewer people cry wolf, and those who do find their cries are increasingly ignored.

From The Daily Beast

He hacked the global media, and all he had to do was cry wolf.

From The Daily Beast

Are those who cry wolf the loudest, entirely clear themselves, of a fondness for fat mutton?

From Project Gutenberg