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

Recent Examples on the Web

Beutner said there is concern that whistleblowers could become targets for retaliation. —Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2024

Those allegations led the Texas House to launch its own investigation into the whistleblowers' complaints and ultimately to vote overwhelmingly to impeach Paxton on 20 charges, including bribery and abuse of office. —Tony Plohetski, USA TODAY, 27 Mar. 2024

Paxton also is fighting efforts by former aides to compel him to testify in a state whistleblower lawsuit that includes allegations that triggered his impeachment by the Texas House. —Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Washington Post, 26 Mar. 2024

And for whistleblowers and their families, providing psychotherapy could be a matter of life and death. —Nick Rockel, Fortune, 15 Mar. 2024

Barnett, who spent about three decades working for Boeing until his retirement in 2017, was in Charleston for legal proceedings in connection with a whistleblower lawsuit against the company, according to the BBC and Time. —Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 12 Mar. 2024

Prior to 2019, if a technician wasn’t certified, Ford wouldn’t pay for the repair, the whistleblower said. —Detroit Free Press, 2 Mar. 2024

Specifically, a disclosure is not timely, and therefore a taxpayer may not enter the VDP, unless it is made prior to the initiation of an IRS civil or criminal examination and before the IRS receives information from a third party (e.g., through an IRS whistleblower claim). —Matthew Roberts, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024

Barnett later filed a whistleblower complaint with the FAA. —Niha Masih, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 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