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greenwashing

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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Blend of green +‎ whitewashing (or green +‎ -wash +‎ -ing).

Noun

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greenwashing (usually uncountable, plural greenwashings)

  1. The practice by people, organizations and states of presenting themselves as environmentally-friendly and progressive in order to disguise or divert attention away from their actual environmentally damaging behavior.
    Synonym: greenwash
    Hyponym: sustainwashing
    • 2019 December 2, Jillian Ambrose, “Fossil fuel lobbyists push to dilute EU anti-greenwash plan”, in The Guardian[1]:
      Fossil fuel lobbyists are trying to water down planned EU rules to stop “investment greenwashing’ by setting science-based criteria for any investment which lays claim to being environmentally sustainable.
    • 2023 August 9, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Chiltern services powered by vegetable oil”, in RAIL, number 989, page 13:
      It's not greenwashing - it makes sense for a whole load of reasons. It demonstrates that we are not just accepting that we have to use diesel for years to come.
    • 2025 June 9, Tom Perkins, “Toxic truth? The cookware craze redefining ‘ceramic’ and ‘nontoxic’”, in The Guardian[2], Guardian Media Group, retrieved 2025-06-09:
      In fact, no legal definition for “nontoxic” or “ceramic” exists, and the marketing has drawn greenwashing accusations exacerbated by the companies concealing their pans’ ingredients.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Further reading

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Verb

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greenwashing

  1. present participle and gerund of greenwash

Translations

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See also

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