green thumb

American  

noun

1. an exceptional aptitude for gardening or for growing plants successfully.

   Houseplants provide much pleasure for the city dweller with a green thumb.

---

green thumb British  

noun

1. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): green fingers.  considerable talent or ability to grow plants

---

green thumb Cultural  

1. A knack for growing plants and keeping them healthy: “All my houseplants are in sorry shape; it's clear I don't have a green thumb.”

---

green thumb Idioms  

1. A knack for making plants grow well, as in Just look at Louise's plants—she really has a green thumb. This term presumably alludes to the stained fingers of an avid gardener. [First half of 1900s]

---

Other Word Forms

• green-thumber
  noun
• green-thumbed
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of green thumb

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

green thumb

I haven’t perfected my green thumb, but I’m working on it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2025

But my green thumb ached as workers sawed down the tree, took away everything — trunk, twigs, leaves, fruit, roots — in biohazard bags and tagged the remaining trees with a bill of clean health.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024

Outside of school, Reagan enjoys ceramics, obsessing over Victorian literature, and trying to keep her plants alive, although her succulents are proof that she may not have a green thumb.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 8, 2023

For your green thumb, find tips for saving money on houseplants and how to keep your plants alive longer.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 16, 2022

She’s had a green thumb since before we moved to the Ranch.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy