kill the messenger

A form of shoot the messenger — To blame a problem on whoever reported it; to hold somebody accountable for a problem because they brought attention to it.

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Meanings

verbkill the messenger (third-person singular simple present kills the messenger, present participle killing the messenger, simple past and past participle killed the messenger)

present singular third person kills the messenger · participle present killing the messenger · participle past killed the messenger · past killed the messenger

  1. alternativeAlternative form of shoot the messenger.

    To disbelieve the message and seek to kill the messenger will not destroy the message.

    1893 December 12, Rev. B. Minard, “Sunday in the Churches”, in Lewiston Evening Journal, Maine
Cite this entry
APA

kill the messenger. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kill%20the%20messenger

MLA

“kill the messenger.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kill%20the%20messenger. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kill the messenger,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kill%20the%20messenger.

Source: kill the messenger on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.