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Chicken Little

Did you mean: Chicken Little (pessimist), Chicken Little (2005 Children's/Family Film), Chicken Little (video game), Chicken Little (1943 film), Chicken Little (soundtrack) More...

 
Dictionary: Chick·en Little   (chĭk'ən) pronunciation
n.
A confirmed pessimist, particularly one who warns of impending disaster.

[After a character in a story who is hit on the head by an acorn and believes the sky is falling.]


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(CHIK-en LIT-l)

noun
A pessimist-cum-alarmist, one who constantly warns of impending calamities.

Etymology
After a hen in children's tale who, when hit on the head by a falling acorn, believes the sky is falling.

Usage
"The question is, how much longer can we count on ingenuity to compensate for prodigality? The Chicken Littles of environmental alarm may yet be right. McNeill is careful to refrain from saying that an ecological crisis is upon us, but he does not mince words about the unsustainability of our course. Adding to our peril is the fact that it is nearly impossible to see what is happening until it is inconveniently late to do much about it." — Chip Brown, Not Easy Being Green, The Washington Post, Aug 20, 2000


WordNet: Chicken Little
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a fictional character who was hit on the head with an acorn and believed that the sky was falling


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The name Chicken Little may refer to:


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Did you mean: Chicken Little (pessimist), Chicken Little (2005 Children's/Family Film), Chicken Little (video game), Chicken Little (1943 film), Chicken Little (soundtrack) More...


 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wordsmith Words. © 2009 Wordsmith.org. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Chicken Little" Read more