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 arrival of the drone shows marks what could eventually be a pivotal change in SeaWorld’s long history of nightly fireworks, which have become increasingly controversial as environmentalists worry about their effect on the environment and surrounding wildlife. —Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Apr. 2026

King Charles is a longtime environmentalist and advocate for sustainability, so the visit to the Harlem Grown nonprofit was a fitting one. —Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 29 Apr. 2026

During the last two weeks, environmentalists reported that the project posed no problems for the area’s plant and animal life. —Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2026

Dozens of advocacy groups, representing labor, immigrants, environmentalists, and public education workers support the measure. —Sacbee.com, 28 Apr. 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