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

And companies have made some improvements over time, Tegmark said, mentioning Google’s transparency around its whistleblower policy as an example. —Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 5 Dec. 2025

The film features Julian Assange, his wife Stella Assange, an extraordinary interview with whistleblower Edward Snowden filmed in Moscow, Naomi Klein, Pamela Anderson, Alan Duncan, Daniel Ellsberg, Jen Robinson, Nils Melzer, Rafael Correa (former leader of Ecuador) and Sigurdur Thordarson. —Matthew Carey, Deadline, 4 Dec. 2025

Noella Turnage, who had been employed by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) since 2019, identified herself Monday as the whistleblower who previously shared some of Maxwell’s correspondence with members of the House Judiciary Committee. —Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025

To the whistleblower’s knowledge, no photos were taken of the bodies to allow for later identification or to mark the location. —Yahya Abou-Ghazala, CNN Money, 3 Dec. 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