Big Bad Wolf
Huffing, puffing menace
The Big Bad Wolf is a villainous character from fairy tales, particularly "The Three Little Pigs" and "Little Red Riding Hood," where he threatens to huff and puff and blow houses down or disguises himself to devour grandmothers.
The phrase has become shorthand for any menacing figure or looming threat: The IRS is the big bad wolf of tax season.
Often used with ironic exaggeration for things less fearsome than they're made out to be.
Fabled sibling homebuilders
- Red Riding HoodCloaked woodland protagonist
- grandmotherMother of a parent
- disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
- woodsmanForest-dwelling wilderness expert
huff and puff · brick house · chimney · basket · cape · forest · cottage · nursery rhyme
Sharp piercing teeth
- howlProlonged mournful cry
- prowlRoam stealthily
- stalkingStealthy, persistent pursuit
- huntingPursuing wild game
prey · pack · alpha · pounce · ambush · claws · snarl · jaws
One who opposes another
- menacingConveying threat or danger
- sinisterThreateningly suggestive of harm
- wickedEvil or slang-excellent
- malevolentHarboring ill will
threat · fearsome · dastardly · scheming · deceptive · lurking · treacherous · ruthless
Inherited cultural narratives
- mythTraditional explanatory tale
- cautionaryServing as warning
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- parableInstructive allegorical narrative
oral tradition · legendary · ancestral · symbolic · primal fear · childhood fear · stranger danger · dark forest
Three Little Pigs
Fabled sibling homebuilders
- Red Riding HoodCloaked woodland protagonist
- grandmotherMother of a parent
- disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
woodsman · huff and puff · brick house · chimney · basket · cape · forest · cottage · nursery rhyme · Grimm
fangs
Sharp piercing teeth
hunting · prey · pack · alpha · pounce · ambush · claws · snarl · jaws · carnivore
antagonist
One who opposes another
- menacingConveying threat or danger
- sinisterThreateningly suggestive of harm
- wickedEvil or slang-excellent
malevolent · threat · fearsome · dastardly · scheming · deceptive · lurking · treacherous · ruthless · predatory
folklore
Inherited cultural narratives
- mythTraditional explanatory tale
- cautionaryServing as warning
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
parable · oral tradition · legendary · ancestral · symbolic · primal fear · childhood fear · stranger danger · dark forest · temptation
- Fable Charactersfox, tortoise, hare, ant, grasshopper
- Fairy Tale CharactersCinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Goldilocks, Sleeping Beauty
- fictional wolvesWhite Fang, Ghost, Summer, Akela, Fenrir
- childhood loretooth fairy, Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, boogeyman, monster under bed
- Fairy Tale Creaturesfairy, witch, wizard, giant, dwarf
- literary animalsAnimal Farm, white whale, Charlotte's Web, Moby Dick, Watership Down
Big Bad Wolfhero
One admired for courage
good guy · fairy godmother · Prince Charming · savior · white knight
Big Bad WolfLittle Red Riding Hood
sheep · Three Little Pigs · lamb · prey · Grandmother
big, bigger, biggest, bad, badly, badness, wolf, wolves, wolfish