cry wolf

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Instead of tackling the danger of Israel's all-too-real nuclear weapons, successive U.S. administrations have chosen to cry wolf over nonexistent nuclear weapons in Iraq and Iran to justify besieging their governments, imposing deadly sanctions on their people, invading Iraq and threatening Iran.

From Salon

“If you cry wolf too often, people will never pay attention,” said epidemiologist Mark Wilson of the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

From Los Angeles Times

“If you’re getting a message that doesn’t apply to you, the ‘cry wolf’ issue is certainly alive and present.

From Seattle Times

“There’s been an over-tendency to cry wolf,” he said of the president’s critics over the past four years.

From New York Times

So as Congress negotiates the details over the latest round of stimulus and Republicans drag their heels and cry wolf about the deficit while cash-strapped workers suffer, remember that a bill that would lift 40 million Americans out of working poverty, the 2019 Raise the Wage Act, is sitting dormant in the Senate because Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to bring it to a vote.

From The Guardian