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

Calling these individuals ‘whistleblowers’ is a joke. —Robert Schmad, The Washington Examiner, 11 Feb. 2026

Internal documents leaked by the whistleblower Frances Haugen in 2021 showing that some employees were worried about Instagram’s effects on young girls made matters worse. —Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 10 Feb. 2026

Last week, intelligence community Inspector General Christopher Fox shared the highly classified whistleblower complaint, which was filed in May, with top congressional leaders. —Michael Kaplan, CBS News, 8 Feb. 2026

The clinic also was accused in a whistleblower lawsuit of scheming to illegally solicit kickbacks from doctors and defraud federal health programs. —Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 7 Feb. 2026

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