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

What’s more, the DOJ is encouraging whistleblowers to file lawsuits on the government’s behalf and potentially receive a portion of the windfall. —Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 22 Oct. 2025

The Office of Special Counsel is an investigative and prosecutorial office that works to protect government employees and whistleblowers from retaliation for reporting wrongdoing. —Fortune Editors, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2025

The Office of Special Counsel is an independent federal agency responsible for protecting whistleblowers and investigating retaliation against government employees who report misconduct. —Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Oct. 2025

But Sorkin has added plenty of star power in their absence by tapping Mikey Madison to play whistleblower Frances Haugen, and Jeremy Allen White to play Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, who team up to expose the company's misdeeds. —Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for whistleblower

• blower
• goer
• grower
• 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