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 September 3, 2026) - One who reports a problem or violation to the authorities; especially, an employee or former employee who reports a violation by an employer.
Corpus desk
Index EN-whistle-blower · whistle-blower · English
whistle-blower · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 14 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "W" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | whistle-blower |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “whistle-blower” in English
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how whistle-blower appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
We owe it to a small group of brave whistle-blowers that we know about the infractions at all.
As my study proceeded, I began to see that an investigation of organizational morality should also explore managerial dissenters, so-called whistleblowers, many of whom take stands against their organizations on grounds that they define as moral.
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.