litterbug

American  

[lit-er-buhg] / ˈlɪt ərˌbʌg /

noun

1. a person who litters public places with items of refuse.

   Litterbugs had thrown beer cans on the picnic grounds.

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Other Word Forms

• litterbugging noun

Etymology

Origin of litterbug

First recorded in 1945–50; litter + bug ¹

Explanation

If you drop your candy wrappers and soda cans on the ground instead of in the trash can (or recycling bin), you're a litterbug. In many cities, you can be fined for being a litterbug. The informal litterbug is the perfect scornful name for someone who doesn't care about keeping the city, beach, or school grounds clean. In Britain, a litterbug might find himself referred to instead as a "litter lout." The New York City subway system is often credited with coining the word litterbug in the 1940s, from the model of jitterbug, a dance that was popular in the 1930s.

Example Sentences

Early advertising campaigns helped popularize terms like "litterbug," while today the focus has shifted to "chemical recycling," promoted by industry as a way to break plastics down into their basic building blocks.

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

To address these points in order, you will threaten creation, you will threaten causality, and you're a litterbug.

From Nature • Oct. 24, 2017

One of the stranger accusations in the Democratic primary race for New York’s Thirteenth Congressional District was that the incumbent, Charles B. Rangel, is a litterbug.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 25, 2014

Department of Defense has become cumulatively�and with a sense of considerable embarrassment�far and away the nation's biggest litterbug.

From Time Magazine Archive

They call the careless folks who drop things by a cute name: litterbug.

From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia