tree hugger

noun

sometimes disparaging : environmentalist sense 2
especially : an advocate for the preservation of woodlands

Examples of tree hugger in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
With her sweater sets, sensible shoes and blond hair pulled back in a tight bun, the soft-spoken grandmother looks more like a favorite high school teacher than a tree hugger. Linda Marsa, Discover Magazine, 30 Sep. 2015 Mel Groves, a 25-year-old studying plant and soil science at Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi, was the definition of a tree hugger, his friend Que Bell recalled. NBC News, 21 Oct. 2021 Five thousand miles away in California, politicians, scientists, oil tycoons and tree huggers are bursting with excitement over the idea. Paula Moura, ProPublica, 22 May 2019 Not too long ago natural beauty was considered squarely in the domain of tree huggers and earth mamas. Lindsey Unterberger, Glamour, 21 Apr. 2018 To get there, the tree huggers who work outside the government need to stop practicing the low priority on diversity that Zinke preaches. Glenn Nelson, Outside Online, 3 Apr. 2018 Are there tree huggers at the agency who didn’t vote for Trump? Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2017 Mann asks whether the tree hugger or the techno-fixer provides a better blueprint for the future of life on Earth. Mary Ellen Hannibal, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 Jan. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1965, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tree hugger was in 1965

Dictionary Entries Near tree hugger

Cite this Entry

“Tree hugger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tree%20hugger. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

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