cried wolf
Gave deceptive warning
Cried wolf is the past tense of cry wolf—to raise a false alarm, making others less likely to believe you when danger is real.
From Aesop's fable of the shepherd boy who repeatedly lied about a wolf attacking his flock until villagers stopped responding: After she cried wolf about the project deadline three times, nobody took her warnings seriously.
- deceiverOne who tricks others
- alarmistOne who overstates threats
- falsehoodDeliberate untrue statement
- fableMoral tale with animals
- fabricatorCreator of lies
hoaxer · cautionary tale · tall tale · false alarm · false positive · parable · lie · fool me once · believability · reliability · dependability · reputation · shepherd · ignored · consequences · lesson learned · unheeded · lost credibility