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

Synonyms

• betrayer
• canary [slang]
• deep throat
• fink
• informant
• informer
• nark [British]
• rat
• rat fink
• snitch
• snitcher
• squealer
• stool pigeon
• stoolie
• talebearer
• tattler
• tattletale
• telltale

Examples of whistleblower in a Sentence

There are laws to protect whistleblowers who reveal corporate malfeasance.

Recent Examples on the Web

If the reports from the whistleblowers result in fines against Boeing or its suppliers levied by regulators the whistleblowers may be entitled to rewards. —Shawn Tully, Fortune, 9 May 2024

Paredes is not the only whistleblower to speak out publicly on quality issues relating to Boeing planes. —Michael Kaplan, CBS News, 8 May 2024

The company’s public relations crisis has also been marred by conspiracy theories as the result of the deaths of multiple corporate whistleblowers who have spoken out about safety issues at the company. —Lucas Ropek / Gizmodo, Quartz, 7 May 2024

It’s revealed early on that Alice is a whistleblower, leveraged by the Feds into feeding them information to build a corporate malfeasance case against the company run by arrogant business kingpin Daniel Bailey (Richard Roxburgh). —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 May 2024

Five agencies with the Department of Labor enforce whistleblower and anti-retaliation laws. —Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY, 3 May 2024

Dean’s death comes less than two months after the death of Barnett, another whistleblower who had spent years warning about lax safety standards at Boeing. —Koh Ewe, TIME, 2 May 2024

Dean had previously worked as a quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems and was among the first whistleblowers to accuse Spirit leadership of ignoring defects on the 737 MAX. —Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 2 May 2024

Barnett sat for the depositions in his whistleblower’s case before the Department of Labor Administrative Law Judges seeking damages from Boeing for harassment, lost pay, and emotional distress. —Shawn Tully, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined above

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