break the news

Idioms  

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.”

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Example Sentences

So when I called him to break the news, he started crying.

From Salon • Mar. 24, 2026

Another issue is just how “out” to be, at work and elsewhere, about one’s preferences; the Davises worry about how and when to break the news to their teenage son.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2026

When Neil died in 1965, it fell to Kai to phone their parents, who were in Italy, and break the news.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025

Balde said he was "devastated" and had to break the news to his wife.

From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025

Maybe Mom had actually told Ms. Morales how long she was going to be gone, and it was just such a horrifyingly long time that no one wanted to break the news to the kids.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

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