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

Local beekeepers, educators, environmentalists and the general public will gather to celebrate the honey bee. —Joe Rassel, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 Aug. 2025

On Monday environmentalists urged the agency to move forward with that step. —Paul Rogers, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2025

The tribe and environmentalists jointly asked Lanza to halt the exchange until their two lawsuits have run their course. —Debra Utacia Krol, AZCentral.com, 30 July 2025

Labor did nothing to advance local environmentalists’ challenges to the projects. —U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 July 2025

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