whistleblower

noun

whis·​tle·​blow·​er ˈ(h)wi-səl-ˌblō-ər 

variants or whistle-blower

plural whistleblowers or whistle-blowers

: one who reveals something covert or who informs against another

especially : an employee who brings wrongdoing by an employer or by other employees to the attention of a government or law enforcement agency

Note: A whistleblower is commonly protected legally from retaliation.

I think whistleblowers play a hugely important role in countering the worst corporate and government excesses.

—Damon Poeter

… pledges to protect whistle-blowers who fear reprisals for their efforts.

—Wall Street Journal

Congress also added significant new protection for whistleblowers. The 1986 act provides remedies including reinstatement, back-pay with interest, and, as appropriate, punitive damages for whistleblowers who are discharged, demoted, or discriminated against due to involvement with a False Claims disclosure.

—Bradford A. Penney

whistleblowing

ˈ(h)wi-səl-ˌblō-iŋ 

adjective

or whistle-blowing

a whistleblowing report

Many states have already enacted laws that protect whistle-blowing employees from retaliation.

—Greg Critser

whistleblowing noun

or whistle-blowing

… a National Security Agency agent who got in trouble for whistle-blowing.

—Renée Camus

Examples of whistleblower in a Sentence

There are laws to protect whistleblowers who reveal corporate malfeasance.

Recent Examples on the Web

The investigator, Gershom Slonim, now calls himself a whistleblower and has come forward to criticize the lack of action taken by the state agency — action that could have saved lives. — Joe Rubin, Sacbee.com, 17 July 2026

Mamdani fired Miranda in May, replacing him with NYPD whistleblower Edwin Raymond as New York City sheriff. — Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News, 16 July 2026

Mayo whistleblower alleges bad AI, consent, privacy practices One of the most aggressive deployers of AI in health care is Mayo Clinic. — Brittany Trang, STAT, 15 July 2026

The dollar amount includes cases involving discrimination, harassment, hostile work environment and whistleblower claims. — Kansas City Star, 14 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for whistleblower

• blower
• goer
• grower
• jowar
• knower
• lower
• mower
• rower
• slower
• sower
• thrower

Legal Definition

whistleblower

noun

whis·​tle·​blow·​er

ˈhwi-səl-ˌblō-ər

: an employee who brings wrongdoing by an employer or other employees to the attention of a government or law enforcement agency and who is commonly vested by statute with rights and remedies for retaliation compare qui tam action

whistleblowing

-iŋ

noun