Word.ws English Dictionary

blue wall of silence

blue wall of silence noun: strict secretiveness maintained by the members of a police force with respect to information which might be contrary to their interests, especially information concerning questionable police actions.

Noun

blue wall of silence (plural blue walls of silence)

  1. (idiomatic) Strict secretiveness maintained by the members of a police force with respect to information which might be contrary to their interests, especially information concerning questionable police actions.
    • We've all heard of the Blue Wall of Silence, the code under which cops stay mum about rogue cops who poison the barrel.1985 June 25, Sydney H. Schanberg, “New York: The Concrete Wall of Silence”, in New York Times, retrieved 12 Aug 2012
    • When the blue wall of silence broke, it was all over for New York City police officer Justin Volpe. The witnesses for the prosecution had badges, and they had stories to tell.1999 May 25, Frank Pellegrini, “Too Despicable for the Blue Wall of Silence”, in Time

Examples of blue wall of silence in a sentence

  • The indictment of officer Michael Roberts also highlights another color barrier that can complicate matters of police discipline—that's the so-called blue wall of silence.2008 July 15, Brandt Williams, Elizabeth Stawicki, “Minneapolis cop indicted on corruption charges”, in Minnesota Public Radio, retrieved...
  • On the streets it is called "No snitching." In law enforcement it is called "The blue wall of silence".2009 June 6, Donald Winkfield, “Manhattan DA’s Keystone Verdict”, in Black Star News, retrieved 12 Aug 2012:

Synonyms of blue wall of silence

Forms of blue wall of silence

pluralblue walls of silence

Origin of blue wall of silence

In reference to blue police uniforms.

Questions about blue wall of silence

What does blue wall of silence mean?
Blue wall of silence means strict secretiveness maintained by the members of a police force with respect to information which might be contrary to their interests, especially information concerning questionable police actions.
How do you use blue wall of silence in a sentence?
The indictment of officer Michael Roberts also highlights another color barrier that can complicate matters of police discipline—that's the so-called blue wall of silence.
What part of speech is blue wall of silence?
Blue wall of silence is a noun.
What is the plural of blue wall of silence?
The plural of blue wall of silence is blue walls of silence.

Words near blue wall of silence in the dictionary

  1. blue vulvas
  2. blue waffle
  3. blue waffle disease
  4. blue waffles
  5. blue wall
  6. blue wall of silence
  7. blue walls
  8. blue walls of silence
  9. blue water
  10. blue waters
  11. blue wave

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: blue wall of silence (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-blue wall of silence.ogg.

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