break silence
End the quiet
Break silence means to speak after a period of not speaking, especially when the silence was deliberate or significant.
Someone breaks silence to reveal information they had withheld: After years of secrecy, the witness finally broke her silence.
The phrase often implies courage or consequence—breaking silence about abuse, corruption, or scandal carries weight that simply "speaking up" doesn't convey.
- interruptBreak in upon
- revealMake something visible
- open secretKnown fact nobody admits
- confessionAdmission of wrongdoing
- utteranceSpoken expression aloud
courage · disclose · spill the beans · whistleblowing · go public · testimony · omertà · tell all · tell the truth · vocalization · catharsis · clear the air · declare · honesty · off the record · come forward · confrontation · admit
- breakbreakaway, breakdown, breakout, breakthrough, breakup
- disclosurerevealing, disclosing, disclosure, disclose, divulge
- revealreveal, disclose, expose, unmask, unveil
- speaking upspeak up, speak out, speak freely, voice, give voice
break silenceremain silent
hold one's tongue · keep quiet · say nothing · keep mum · bite one's tongue
break silencecover up
Conceal misdeeds or errors
conceal · keep mum · suppress · stonewalling · hold back
break silencelook the other way
Willfully ignore misconduct
turn a blind eye · keep one's head down · acquiesce · plead the fifth
break, silence, silent, breaking, unbroken, silently, breakable, breaks, unbreakable