break it to

English

Alternative forms

• break it, break the news

Verb

break it to (third-person singular simple present breaks it to, present participle breaking it to, simple past broke it to, past participle broken it to)

1. (idiomatic) To deliver unfortunate or upsetting news to someone.

   Look, I hate to break it to you, but Tim doesn't want anything to do with you anymore.

   • 1995, HAL Laboratory, EarthBound, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System:

     [Spoken by a shopkeeper] Hmmm... Hate to break this to you, but you don't have enough money.