Did you
know?

henpecked
adjective

- (of a man) to be dominated or harassed with persistent nagging by one’s wife

(Collins English Dictionary)

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The verb "henpeck" and the adjective "henpecked" stem from the idea of a hen that runs around the barnyard or chicken coop pecking at one of the unlucky roosters.

Apart from henpecked, there are a surprising number of idioms, expressions and phrases that stem from the chicken world. Following is a small sample:

- chicken feed = a small amount of anything, especially money (My first job out of college paid chicken feed)

- no spring chicken = no longer young (I may be no spring chicken, but I can still beat you at tennis)

- fly the coop = to escape, leave, get away (I flew the coop as soon as I turned 18)

- like a chicken with its head cut off = chaotic, with no direction (The team was running around like a chicken with its head cut off until they replaced the department manager)

- up with the chickens = to wake up early and get started (She must get up with the chickens. She is always in the office before anyone else.)

- egg on your face = to be embarrassed (If we don’t finish on time, we’ll have egg on our face)

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SYNONYMS

browbeaten, docile, led by the nose, meek, obedient, submissive, under her thumb, whipped

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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation, say something like:

"He may act macho at work, but they say at home he is really HENPECKED."