crying wolf
Raising fake emergencies
Crying wolf is raising a false alarm or warning about danger that doesn't exist, especially repeatedly.
The expression comes from Aesop's fable about a shepherd boy who falsely cried "Wolf!" so often that villagers ignored him when a wolf actually appeared.
Someone who cries wolf loses credibility, so that genuine warnings go unheeded: After crying wolf about deadlines so many times, nobody believed her when the project was actually in trouble.
Ancient Greek fable writer
- shepherd boyYouth who herds sheep
- moralConcerning right conduct
- taleSpoken or written narrative
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
parable · folklore · cautionary tale · storytelling · myth · legend · didactic · instructive
Erroneous warning signal
- hoaxDeliberate deception for effect
- fabricationDeliberately untrue statement
- lieDeliberate falsehood
- pretenseDeceptive outward show
deceit · fraud · sham · feint · trickery · mislead · duplicity · con
Disposition toward doubt
- disbeliefRejection of truth claims
- doubtLack of firm belief
- suspicionSense of unease about motives
- mistrustLack of faith
incredulity · wariness · credibility gap · dismissal · cynicism · questioning · hesitation · caution
Purposely not noticed
- unheededIgnored after being given
- dismissedReleased from duty
- discreditedProven unworthy of trust
- untrustedNot relied upon
accountability · reputation · lesson · regret · backfire · comeuppance · karma · reckoning
Aesop
Ancient Greek fable writer
- shepherd boyYouth who herds sheep
- moralConcerning right conduct
- taleSpoken or written narrative
allegory · parable · folklore · cautionary tale · storytelling · myth · legend · didactic · instructive · proverb
false alarm
Erroneous warning signal
- hoaxDeliberate deception for effect
- fabricationDeliberately untrue statement
- lieDeliberate falsehood
pretense · deceit · fraud · sham · feint · trickery · mislead · duplicity · con · subterfuge
skepticism
Disposition toward doubt
mistrust · incredulity · wariness · credibility gap · dismissal · cynicism · questioning · hesitation · caution · vigilance
ignored
Purposely not noticed
- unheededIgnored after being given
- dismissedReleased from duty
- discreditedProven unworthy of trust
untrusted · accountability · reputation · lesson · regret · backfire · comeuppance · karma · reckoning · cost
- deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud
- fablesfable, Aesop, Aesop's fables, Aesop fables, tortoise and hare
- Historical AllusionsTrojan horse, Achilles heel, Pyrrhic victory, crossing the Rubicon, Pandora's box
- ego displaysarrogance, vanity, boasting, showboating, braggadocio
- exaggerationhyperbole, overstatement, exaggeration, magnification, amplification
- theatricstheatrics, dramatics, melodrama, histrionics, theatricality
crying wolfwhistleblowing
Exposing hidden wrongdoing internally
telling the truth · alerting · telling it like it is · speaking truth · bearing witness
crying wolfburying one's head in the sand
Ignoring obvious problems deliberately
whistling past the graveyard · denial · complacency · underreacting
cry, wolf, crying, cries, outcry, cried, crybaby, wolves, wolfish