eco-warrior

See also: ecowarrior

English

Alternative forms

• ecowarrior

Etymology

From eco- +‎ warrior.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈiː.kəʊ ˌwɒ.ɹi.əɹ/

Noun

eco-warrior (plural eco-warriors)

1. An environmentalist who places a greater emphasis upon taking practical action, rather than upon theoretical considerations, in order to advance an ecological ideology.
   • 2016 [1990], Rik Scarce, Eco-Warriors: Understanding the Radical Environmental Movement‎^[1], updated edition, Routledge, →ISBN:

     The time has come, eco-warriors say, for the underground in this war to rise, to fight back against the onslaught of technomania sweeping every corner of the world from Silicon Valley to the Amazon River Valley,  […]

   • 2017 December 28, Kim Willsher, “End of la ZAD? France’s ‘utopian’ anti-airport community faces bitter last stand”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Up to 300 squatters – eco-warriors to some, green jihadis to others – now live in the ZAD: […]

   • 2022 February 23, Benedict le Vay, “Part of rail's past... present... and future”, in RAIL, number 951, page 54:

     Green can be a double-edged sword. Does it make sense for an eco-warrior to arrive at (say) the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in his Tesla electric car, get out in his low-carbon vegan trainers, and then step into a 19th century means of transport that is staggeringly inefficient and pretty darn polluting?

Usage notes

• Often used ironically to refer to an environmentalist who is far less extreme in their actions.

References

• “eco-warrior”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.