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

See Examples For:

break the news

Michael Owen tells a story about how when Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier rang to break the news he had won the award in 2001, the 22-year-old did not even know what the Ballon d'Or was.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

Locsin shared that four of her son’s brothers in service knocked on her door Thursday night to break the news.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

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

From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2026

However, the scientific paper detailing the discovery was published sooner than expected, meaning he had to break the news to him during a video call instead.

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2026

Someone had to break the news that I was in big trouble, and that I’d broken every expectation that had ever been held for me.

From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz

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Related Words

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

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