sagebrush

noun

sage·​brush ˈsāj-ˌbrəsh 

: any of several North American hoary composite subshrubs (genus Artemisia)

especially : one (A. tridentata) having a bitter juice and an odor resembling sage and often covering vast tracts of alkaline plains in the western U.S.

Examples of sagebrush in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Third Bench would be south of that, mostly open sagebrush steppe in hills that roll toward land set aside for Kuna’s expansion goals. —Mark Dee january 29, Idaho Statesman, 29 Jan. 2026

The manzanitas, sagebrushes and oaks may be thriving. —Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2026

Descending from the narrow, wooded, and windy mountain roads, the landscape opens up to reveal expansive high-desert plateaus with cows grazing on flat ranch lands dotted with low sagebrush. —Sharael Kolberg, Travel + Leisure, 16 Jan. 2026

Around that are various sages, including a Cleveland sage, along with California sagebrush and California buckwheat. —Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sagebrush

• underbrush
• airbrush
• hairbrush
• inrush
• onrush
• paintbrush
• blush
• brush
• crush
• flush
• gush
• hush

Kids Definition

sagebrush

noun

sage·​brush ˈsāj-ˌbrəsh 

: any of several low shrubby North American plants related to the daisies

especially : a common plant with a bitter juice that smells like sage and is widespread on the plains of the western U.S.