Word.ws English Dictionary

tree hugger

tree hugger noun: an environmental campaigner, especially one who aims to restrict logging and especially one who uses dramatic, attention-grabbing methods of obstruction.

Noun

tree hugger (plural tree huggers)

  1. (derogatory, slang) An environmental campaigner, especially one who aims to restrict logging and especially one who uses dramatic, attention-grabbing methods of obstruction.
    • Animal liberationists like Rosmarino resented the tree huggers' insensitivity to animals and reluctance to risk jail time, while more mainstream environmentalists like AFR's Jeff Berman disagreed with the bunny huggers' wacky morality and in-your-face tactics. The two groups' differences were in...1999, Mother Jones Magazine (Mar–Apr 1999, page 64)
  2. (slang) A hippie.
    • The idea of naturopathic doctors had always formed an image in my mind of old, bearded, tree-huggers who boiled roots and made poultices out of gross things to treat weird people who believed in that "natural" stuff.2005, Erin Bell, Miss Diagnosed: Unraveling Chronic Stress
    • She'd heard the term from American soldiers about these 'free love' people. 'Tree huggers' who reveled in sex, drink and drugs.2014, Zoe Ambler, The Road of Darkness

Synonyms of tree hugger

All synonyms of tree hugger

Forms of tree hugger

pluraltree huggers
alternative formtreehugger
alternative formtree-hugger

Origin of tree hugger

From tree + hugger. Popularized after the Chipko movement in India of the 1970s, who resorted to actual group hugging of trees in order to prevent deforestation. Tommy James claims that his song "Draggin' the Line" (1971) popularized the phrase.

Questions about tree hugger

What does tree hugger mean?
Tree hugger means an environmental campaigner, especially one who aims to restrict logging and especially one who uses dramatic, attention-grabbing methods of obstruction.
What part of speech is tree hugger?
Tree hugger is a noun.
What is the plural of tree hugger?
The plural of tree hugger is tree huggers.

Words near tree hugger in the dictionary

  1. tree heaths
  2. tree hollow
  3. tree hollows
  4. tree house
  5. tree houses
  6. tree hugger
  7. tree huggers
  8. Tree Island
  9. tree isle
  10. tree isles
  11. tree jumper

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tree hugger (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-tree hugger.ogg.

Cite this entry: “tree hugger.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tree_hugger. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.