environmentalism
noun
en·vi·ron·men·tal·ism
| \ in-ˌvī-rə(n)-ˈmen-tə-ˌli-zəm
, -ˌvī(-ə)r(n)-\
, -ˌvī(-ə)r(n)-\
Definition of environmentalism
1
: a theory that views environment rather than heredity as the important factor in the development and especially the cultural and intellectual development of an individual or group
2
: advocacy of the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural environment
especially
: the movement to control pollution
Examples of environmentalism in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Loop and the forum were both born of the idea that environmentalism is no longer the purview of counterculture activists—that corporations have taken note and, increasingly, are aligning shareholder interests with the health of the planet. — Eamon Barrett, Fortune, "It’s Time for Corporate America to Rewrite Its Responsibility to Sustainability," 3 Sep. 2019 Zink’s presentation of Democratic stupidity or the limitations of corporate environmentalism is one way of highlighting the absurdity of our era: not by exaggeration but by changing its context. — Madeleine Schwartz, The New Yorker, "Nell Zink’s Satire Raises the Stakes," 26 Aug. 2019 Mr Johnson is likely to embrace a peculiar mixture of liberal causes (such as environmentalism) and populist ones (such as stiffer prison sentences). — The Economist, "The Downing Street Policy Unit, Boris Johnson’s brain," 22 Aug. 2019 The constant push-and-pull between California environmentalism and its oil fields came to a public head late last week. — Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, "A major Kern County oil spill in environmentally conscious California," 17 July 2019 An aide told CBS News the president has been wanting to talk about environmentalism. — Arden Farhi, CBS News, "Trump avoids climate change in speech on environmentalism," 8 July 2019 The problem is that the focus on environmentalism appears to come at the expense of political freedom. — Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, "Trump, the Fed, and Interest Rates," 28 June 2019 California as a paragon of environmentalism is a loud narrative — one that has shaped headlines and stereotypes and even attitudes, especially in the big cities. — Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, "A major Kern County oil spill in environmentally conscious California," 17 July 2019 Even the pastor of the White House bible study group attended by many cabinet members preaches that environmentalism is radical and foolish, because God put natural resources on earth for his greatest creation, man, to use up. — Heather Timmons, Quartz, "The Trump White House tries to rewrite its own history on the environment," 9 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'environmentalism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for environmentalism
environmentalism
noun
en·vi·ron·men·tal·ism
| \ -ˌvī-rən-ˈment-ᵊl-ˌiz-əm, -ˌvī(-ə)rn-
\
\
Medical Definition of environmentalism
: a theory that views environment rather than heredity as the important factor in the development and especially the cultural and intellectual development of an individual or group
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