mother hen

noun

1. a person who attends to the welfare of others, especially one who is fussily protective.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mother hen¹

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

He hovered like an anxious mother hen and spent as much time mopping his own brow as he did his wife’s.

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For 14 years, as she advanced at The Observer, she said she avoided his desk and chaperoned interns “like a mother hen crossing a busy road.”

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A mother hen who pecked when necessary but more often took everyone under her wing.

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He cast the “mother hen” of Second City, Sue Gillan, as his character’s mentor, and one of his teachers, Claudia Wallace, as a hostile receptionist.

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Studies have shown that calves recover faster after dehorning when allowed to return to their social group, and chicks benefit from being near their mother hen after experiencing a mild stressor.

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