leaf peeper

See also: leaf-peeper

English

WOTD – 22 September 2020

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈliːf ˌpiːpə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlif ˌpipɚ/

• Audio (GA)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -iːpə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: leaf peep‧er

Noun

leaf peeper (plural leaf peepers)

1. (US, slang) A tree sightseer who enjoys observing the leaves change color in the autumn.
   • 1984, Robert L. Sammons, Travel Holiday, volume 162, Floral Park, N.Y.: Travel Magazine, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 52:

     Those "leaf peepers" (that's what you will be to locals) whose New England wanderings lead them through Amherst, Boston, Cambridge, [...]

   • 1995, William G. Tapply, chapter 9, in The Seventh Enemy: A Brady Coyne Book, New York, N.Y.: Otto Penzler Books, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media, 2013, →ISBN:

     Actually, I'm a leaf peeper myself in May, and when the trail began its acute northwest ascent into the Berkshire foothills west of Greenfield, I found myself marveling at the thousands of pale shades of green and yellow and pink in the new May leaves that walled the roadside and formed a canopy overhead.

   • 1995 September, “Technicolor Road Trips”, in Snow Country, volume 10, number 5, Trumbull, Conn.: NYT Sports/Leisure Magazines, →ISSN, →OCLC, image caption, page 237, column 3:

     Fall colors bring leaf peepers out of the woodwork, making it a challenge to find uncrowded roads.

   • 2004, Donna Marie Robie, chapter 5, in One Quiet Night: Murder in New Hampshire, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 22:

     The valley was stunning this time of year in particular, which drove thousands of leaf-peepers to enter the Mount Washington Valley by busloads to take in the splendor that lay for all to see.

   • 2007 October, “Best Places to Catch Fall Color”, in Rebecca Burns, editor, Atlanta, Atlanta, Ga.: Emmis Publishing, →ISSN, page 244, column 3:

     Perched on a peak amidst the leaf peeper’s paradise of Western North Carolina, Fire Mountain Inn is a secluded retreat with close ties to the land.

   • 2014, Christyne Butler, chapter 5, in The Last-chance Maverick (Harlequin Special Edition), Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin Books, →ISBN, page 81:

     [T]hey found the ski lifts were operating, taking leaf peepers up to the summit to view the beautiful fall foliage.

   • 2014, Marcia Glassman-Jaffe, “The Berkshires”, in Amy Lyons, editor, Fun with the Family: Massachusetts: Hundreds of Ideas for Day Trips with the Kids (Fun with the Family Series), 8th edition, Guilford, Conn.: GPP Travel, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 1:

     A magnet for leaf-peeper pilgrimages, the color is brilliant in autumn, sweeping over the knolls and rises of the landscape.

   • 2015, Nancy Cain, “Quick Breads, Breakfast Foods, and Muffins”, in Against the Grain: Extraordinary Gluten-free Recipes Made from Real, All-natural Ingredients, New York, N.Y.: Clarkson Potter Publishers, →ISBN:

     [R]aisin-apple butter muffins [...] We love apples, and apples in the fall are a big deal around here. There are heirloom apple tastings, thousands of home-baked apple pies are sold to leaf-peepers, and fresh cider is pressed along the side of the road.

Alternative forms

• leaf-peeper

Related terms

• leaf peeping

Translations

tree sightseer

Further reading

• leaf peeping on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “leaf peeper, n.”, in “leaf, n.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2016.
• “leaf peeper, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.