tree-hugger

American  

[tree-huhg-er] / ˈtriˌhʌg ər /

noun

1. an environmentalist, especially one concerned with preserving forests.

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tree-hugger British  

/ ˈtriːˌhʌɡə /

noun

1. informal an environmental campaigner

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Other Word Forms

• tree-hugging
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of tree-hugger

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tree-hugger

Nye County, which is home to Tonopah, isn’t exactly tree-hugger country — and not just because most of the land is scrub-filled desert.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026

And yet, for years and years, if you betrayed the fact that you cared about this, you were described as a tree-hugger and mocked.

From The New Yorker ● May 9, 2019

But it is the way these trees are grown that is just as interesting to a gardener and tree-hugger like me.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 18, 2017

A champion of poor immigrants, a critic of capitalism and a tree-hugger who has, meanwhile, done little to revise the church’s social teachings, Pope Francis has something for both camps.

From Economist ● Sep. 17, 2015

"I'm no tree-hugger," he says "but Pebble is the wrong mine, in the wrong place".

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2013