Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
dictionary thesaurus view recents

tree hugger

noun
Save Word

Definition of tree hugger

sometimes disparaging : environmentalist sense 2 especially : an advocate for the preservation of woodlands

Examples of tree hugger in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Five thousand miles away in California, politicians, scientists, oil tycoons and tree huggers are bursting with excitement over the idea. — Paula Moura, ProPublica, "Why Carbon Credits For Forest Preservation May Be Worse Than Nothing," 22 May 2019 Not too long ago natural beauty was considered squarely in the domain of tree huggers and earth mamas. — Lindsey Unterberger, Glamour, "The Best Natural Beauty Products to Shop From Dermstore's Earth Day Sale," 21 Apr. 2018 To get there, the tree huggers who work outside the government need to stop practicing the low priority on diversity that Zinke preaches. — Glenn Nelson, Outside Online, "Op-Ed: Of Course Zinke Doesn't Care About Diversity," 3 Apr. 2018 Are there tree huggers at the agency who didn’t vote for Trump? — Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, "Scott Pruitt’s Dirty Politics," 3 Apr. 2017 Mann asks whether the tree hugger or the techno-fixer provides a better blueprint for the future of life on Earth. — Mary Ellen Hannibal, San Francisco Chronicle, "‘The Wizard and the Prophet,’ by Charles C. Mann," 12 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tree hugger.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

See More

First Known Use of tree hugger

1965, in the meaning defined above

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about tree hugger

Time Traveler for tree hugger

Time Traveler

The first known use of tree hugger was in 1965

See more words from the same year

Statistics for tree hugger

Cite this Entry

“Tree hugger.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tree%20hugger. Accessed 14 Jul. 2020.

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for tree hugger

tree hugger

noun

English Language Learners Definition of tree hugger

disapproving : someone who is regarded as foolish or annoying because of being too concerned about protecting trees, animals, and other parts of the natural world from pollution and other threats

See the full definition for tree hugger in the English Language Learners Dictionary

More from Merriam-Webster on tree hugger

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with tree hugger

Comments on tree hugger

What made you want to look up tree hugger? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Show Comments  Hide Comments 

WORD OF THE DAY

tutelage

Listen to the pronunciation of tutelage

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Words for Summer: A Quiz

  • a closeup of a sunflower
  • Which of the following words means “of or relating to summer”?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Bee Cubed

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games