spoiler alert

English

spoiler alert (plural spoiler alerts)

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see spoiler,‎ alert: a warning that plot elements in a drama will be exposed.

An indication, placed in a text, that the plot of a drama is about to be exposed.
Spoiler alert: The main character, Mark, succumbs to an illness at the end.
(often humorous) Indicates that the speaker is about to reveal something unanticipated or unpleasant.
Spoiler alert, these measures have not proved to be very helpful at mitigating the effects of this crisis.
- 2022 May 15, Kayleigh Roberts, “Millie Bobby Brown Does a Spot-On Anna Delvey Impression That You *Must* Hear”, in Cosmopolitan‎^[1]:
  At this point, an appropriately impressed Jimmy Fallon asks if her [Millie Bobby Brown's] ear for accents extends beyond Miley Cyrus sitcoms, and—SPOILER ALERT—it definitely does.
- 2023 June 14, Christian Wolmar, “Ministerial report makes depressing reading for the railway”, in RAIL, number 985, page 44:
  As we approach the midpoint of the year, it is timely to offer a scorecard on the ministerial achievements towards these aims. And - spoiler alert - it does not make happy reading for the Government.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:spoiler alert.

an indication, placed in a text, that the plot of a drama is about to be exposed

indicates that the speaker is about to reveal something unanticipated or unpleasant