whistleblower
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of whistleblower
First recorded in 1965–70; whistle ( def. ) + blower ( def. )
Explanation
A whistleblower is someone who reveals illegal activity that's been going on at their workplace. By making their allegations, most whistleblowers put their jobs in jeopardy. Whistleblowers have exposed all kinds of wrongdoing at both private companies and government agencies, from fraud and illegal hiring practices to corruption and public health dangers. Many historians consider Benjamin Franklin to be the first U.S. whistleblower, for leaking letters between British officials, an action that was seen as a step toward revolution. The term wasn't applied to the act of revealing secret information until the 1970s, when activist Ralph Nader used it lieu of negative words like "snitch."
Vocabulary lists containing whistleblower
Simply Scandalous!
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U.S. Government - Middle School and High School
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U.S. Government - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then in April 2025, DHS transmitted to SSA a second list of 2.7 million individuals to be marked as dead, the whistleblower said.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 5, 2026
"When you have products designed to maximize capture of your attention, some people are going to have a harmful relationship to it," said Arturo Béjar, a Meta whistleblower who has testified against the company.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
In 2022 a whistleblower from the Southern Health Trust contacted BBC News about fears that women's smear tests had been misread by screeners with some going on to develop cancer.
From BBC • May 14, 2026
In an email sent to her in November 2021, an SEC official told her to identify herself as “the whistleblower who sent” a tip to the agency.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026
The SEC denied a whistleblower award to Desiree Fixler, a former Deutsche Bank executive, for first reporting her claims to the news media.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
