How do you say “Blow the whistle on something” in Spanish?
The closest natural Spanish equivalent is denunciar irregularidades, which literally means “to report irregularities”. English speakers use blow the whistle on something to mean to report or expose wrongdoing that has been kept hidden. A natural way to report misconduct in Spanish. “Irregularidades” covers improper practices; name a crime directly when that is what you mean. Register: neutral. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural Spanish
denunciar irregularidades
/denunˈsjaɾ ireɣulaɾiˈðaðes/
- Literal meaning
- “to report irregularities”
- Register
- neutral
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
92 out of 100
What a native Spanish speaker would actually say
“Denunciar” can mean reporting something to the authorities or publicly speaking against it. The rest of the sentence shows which action took place.
For fraud, say “denunciar un fraude”. This keeps the allegation clear without needing a word-for-word whistle image.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone4 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
In context
English
A nurse blew the whistle on falsified safety records at the clinic.
Spanish
Una enfermera denunció la falsificación de los registros de seguridad de la clínica.
English
He was afraid to blow the whistle on the fraud because he might lose his job.
Spanish
Tenía miedo de denunciar el fraude porque podía perder su empleo.
Related expressions
Last updated 2026-11-13