Henny Penny

plural Henny Pennies

1. One who panics at the slightest provocation.

   I know that in some quarters I am regarded as a kind of wet blanket, a Henny Penny predicting doom and gloom.

   2001, Seymour B. Sarason, American Psychology & Schools: A Critique, Teachers College Press, published 2001, →ISBN, page 130

   2 more examples

   The Henny Pennies who forecast doom and disaster thus have been proved hysterics who could use some est or encounter sessions to calm their anxieties.

   1984, Carol Chambers Collins, Our Food, Air and Water: How Safe Are They?, Facts on File, published 1984, →ISBN, page 27

   On April 11, in a tense news conference during a period when the looting dominated the news, Rumsfeld dismissed the media by calling them “Henny Pennies,” a reference to a children's tale in which the main character runs around, declaring that the sky is falling.

   2006, Rebecca Knuth, Burning Books and Leveling Libraries: Extremist Violence and Cultural Destruction, Praegar Publishers, published 2006, →ISBN, page 209

   Synonyms: Chicken Little