tree-hugger

American  

[tree-huhg-er] / ˈtriˌhʌg ər /

noun

1. an environmentalist, especially one concerned with preserving forests.

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tree-hugger British  

/ ˈtriːˌhʌɡə /

noun

1. informal an environmental campaigner

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Other Word Forms

• tree-hugging adjective

Etymology

Origin of tree-hugger

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

And yet, for years and years, if you betrayed the fact that you cared about this, you were described as a tree-hugger and mocked.

From The New Yorker • May 9, 2019

But it is the way these trees are grown that is just as interesting to a gardener and tree-hugger like me.

From Washington Post • Dec. 18, 2017

Others dismiss Francis, who picked his papal name partly in homage to the nature-loving St. Francis of Assisi, as a tree-hugger.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2015

A champion of poor immigrants, a critic of capitalism and a tree-hugger who has, meanwhile, done little to revise the church’s social teachings, Pope Francis has something for both camps.

From Economist • Sep. 17, 2015

Pastor Tri described himself as both a "tree-hugger and a social conservative".

From BBC • Dec. 10, 2009