environmentalist
noun
en·vi·ron·men·tal·ist
in-ˌvī-rə(n)-ˈmen-tə-ləst 
-ˌvī(-ə)r(n)-
plural environmentalists
: an advocate of environmentalism : a person who is focused on the preservation, restoration, and improvement of the natural environment
While dams have been touted in the name of water conservation and clean, renewable energy, environmentalists have long challenged the claim that dams are "green" technology. The deleterious ecological impacts of dams, they insist, have been profound.—
Patrick Joseph
Patrick JosephMeanwhile, environmentalists have responded that climate change and habitat loss due to development should require builders to think even more carefully about their projects.—Emma Cotton et al.
Emma Cotton et al.Examples of environmentalist in a Sentence
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This earned him a trickle of would-be acolytes during his long incarceration: radical environmentalists and anarcho-primitivists at first, and later eco-fascists, the faction of white nationalists who built on Hitler’s view that race war was necessary for survival in a world of finite resources.
—Charles Homans, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2025
Geoengineering projects, even those led by climate scientists at major universities, have previously drawn the ire of environmentalists and other groups.
—Ramin Skibba, WIRED, 22 Mar. 2025
The project was originally approved in 2016 but environmentalists sued.
—Calmatters, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2025
Human rights groups, environmentalists and diplomats consider the cleanup work — along with disability assistance that the U.S. has provided to Agent Orange victims across the country — to be one of the most successful foreign aid initiatives of all time.
—Anna Maria Barry-Jester, ProPublica, 17 Mar. 2025
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Charles Homans, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2025
Geoengineering projects, even those led by climate scientists at major universities, have previously drawn the ire of environmentalists and other groups.
—Ramin Skibba, WIRED, 22 Mar. 2025
The project was originally approved in 2016 but environmentalists sued.
—Calmatters, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2025
Human rights groups, environmentalists and diplomats consider the cleanup work — along with disability assistance that the U.S. has provided to Agent Orange victims across the country — to be one of the most successful foreign aid initiatives of all time.
—Anna Maria Barry-Jester, ProPublica, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for environmentalist
Cite this Entry
“Environmentalist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/environmentalist. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
environmentalist
noun
en·vi·ron·men·tal·ist
-ˌvī-rən-ˈment-ᵊl-əst
-ˌvī(-ə)rn-
: a person concerned about environmental quality and especially with controlling pollution
Medical Definition
environmentalist
noun
en·vi·ron·men·tal·ist
-ᵊl-əst
1
: an advocate of environmentalism
2
: one concerned about environmental quality especially of the human environment with respect to the control of pollution
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