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

Meanwhile, 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.

Examples of environmentalist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The environmentalist emphasized that the growing abundance of deadstock and post-consumer textiles presents a significant opportunity for designers to rethink how garments are made and where materials come from. —Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 20 May 2026

Monica Montefalcone was an environmentalist who had conducted marine research in the Maldives for many years. —Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 20 May 2026

Singer, actress, philanthropist, environmentalist, gay rights activist and fervent animal lover. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 15 May 2026

But, but, but … Steyer seems to be the most committed environmentalist of the bunch, despite, as his opponents repeatedly point out, having made part of his fortune investing in fossil fuel and coal companies and private prisons. —Robin Abcarian, Mercury News, 14 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1903, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for environmentalist

• experimentalist
• fundamentalist
• instrumentalist
• orientalist
• transcendentalist
• gentlest

Kids 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