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

Sanders has also joined environmentalists and called for Congress to pass a moratorium on building new data centers. —Mary Ellen Klas, Twin Cities, 15 Feb. 2026

The incumbent is a massive Democrat donor, another candidate is an environmentalist, one ran as the 2024 Libertarian candidate against the Republican nominee, and the other was the 2024 Democrat candidate against the Republican nominee. —Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Feb. 2026

Some environmentalists are squawking, however, because the iconic wood stork will soon lose its federal protection, arguing climate change and environmental policy rollbacks continue to threaten its wetland habitat. —Kristi Swartz, AJC.com, 13 Feb. 2026

Lyons and other environmentalists are fighting to stop a copper and nickel mine from being developed near the Minnesota Boundary Waters. —Charlie De Mar, CBS News, 9 Feb. 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