environmentalist

American  

[en-vahy-ruhn-men-tl-ist, -vahy-ern-] / ɛnˌvaɪ rənˈmɛn tl ɪst, -ˌvaɪ ərn- /

noun

• environmentalists
  plural

1. an expert on environmental problems.

2. any person who advocates or works to protect the air, water, animals, plants, and other natural resources from pollution or its effects.

3. a person who believes that differences between individuals or groups, especially in moral and intellectual attributes, are predominantly determined by environmental factors, as surroundings, upbringing, or experience (opposed to hereditarian).

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environmentalist British  

/ ɪnˌvaɪrənˈmɛntəlɪst /

noun

1. an adherent of environmentalism

2. a person who is concerned with the maintenance of ecological balance and the conservation of the environment

3. a person concerned with issues that affect the environment, such as pollution

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antienvironmentalist
  noun
• environmentalism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• environmentalists
  plural

Etymology

Origin of environmentalist

First recorded in 1915–20; environmental ( def. ) + -ist

Compare meaning

How does environmentalist compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• conservationist vs. environmentalist

Explanation

If you're a true environmentalist, you care deeply enough about the natural world to make protecting it a real priority. You may even have made it your life's work. These days, there's no shortage of work for the world's environmentalists. What with climate change, oil spills, gas drilling, deforestation, and species decline (just to name a few), there's almost no time to breathe. Show me an environmentalist with nothing to do, and I'll show you someone who isn't paying attention. Environmentalists — people who work to protect the environment — often work hand in hand with conservationists, whose job is to protect and maintain as much of the natural world as possible.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

environmentalist environmentalists

The offshore industry has been lobbying hard, stressing the economic and energy security benefits, but environmentalist argue that more drilling is incompatible with efforts to tackle climate change.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

Becerra emerged from the primary ahead of more progressive opponents, including billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, and quickly earned the backing of their onetime supporters, said IGS Poll Director Mark DiCamillo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

"From an environmentalist point of view, this is chaos," said Silvio Pastore, a geology professor at the National University of San Juan.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

“Why do we need a nine gigawatt data center in one of the driest states in the nation that’s in a severe drought,” Caroline Gleich, an environmentalist and professional skier, asked.

From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026

This soundscape, as acoustic environmentalist R. Murray Schafer conceived it, concerns what those sounds tell us about who we are and the time in which we live.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Greenpeace and other environmentalists have also raised objections over its impact.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

After that, not just a small group of dedicated environmentalists was aware of the development.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

His decision to allow exploratory drilling in the area known as the Brazilian Equatorial Margin was heavily criticised by environmentalists, who raised concerns that any potential oil spills could devastate its ecosystem.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Once again, the environmentalists — the Resource Renewal Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watersheds Project — sued.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

For the CEO with the bad hamburger meat, Sandman engages in “outrage reduction”; for the environmentalists, it’s “outrage increase.”

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

Related Words

• ecologist