break the news

1. Make something known, as in We suspected that she was pregnant but waited for her to break the news to her in-laws. This term, in slightly different form (break a matter or break a business), dates from the early 1500s. Another variant is the 20th-century journalistic phrase, break a story, meaning “to reveal a news item or make it available for publication.”

Example Sentences

Once he learned the show’s fate, Colbert said he was unsure about when he should break the news to his staff, debating whether to wait until after the summer break or in September.

From Los Angeles Times

Those who deliver the news can’t always break the news, even when it concerns themselves.

From Los Angeles Times

In April 1968, when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, it fell to Robert F. Kennedy to break the news to a largely Black crowd in Indianapolis.

From Los Angeles Times

"You knew at some point you were gonna need to strut into your family home and break the news to your family that you're gay."

From BBC

He had to break the news to his brother.

From BBC

Related Words

• advise 
• announce 
• confess 
• declare 
• disclose 
• explain 
• express 
• inform 
• instruct 
• mention 
• notify 
• order 
• report 
• reveal 
• say 
• speak 
• state 
• summon