whistle-blower
"whistle-blower" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“whistle-blower” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One who reports a problem or violation to the authorities; especially, an employee or former employee who reports a violation by an employer.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | whistle-blower |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “whistle-blower” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
whistle-blower is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "One who reports a problem or violation to the authorities; especially, an employee or former employee who reports a violation by an employer.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for whistle-blower, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From whistle + blower, referring to a police officer blowing their whistle on observing a violation of the law. The correct English form is whistle-blower, spelled W-H-I-S-T-L-E---B-L-O-W-E-R.
Definition
- 1One who reports a problem or violation to the authorities; especially, an employee or former employee who reports a violation by an employer.
Etymology
From whistle + blower, referring to a police officer blowing their whistle on observing a violation of the law.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “whistle-blower”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-H-I-S-T-L-E---B-L-O-W-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.