"greenwash" meaning in English

See greenwash in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈɡɹiːnwɒʃ/ Audio: en-au-greenwash.ogg Forms: greenwashes [plural]
Etymology: Blend of green (“environmentally friendly”) + whitewash (or green + -wash), coined by Jay Westerveld in 1986. Etymology templates: {{blend|en|green|whitewash|gloss1=environmentally friendly}} Blend of green (“environmentally friendly”) + whitewash, {{suffix|en|green|wash}} green + -wash, {{coin|en|Jay Westerveld|in=1986|nocap=1|nocat=1}} coined by Jay Westerveld in 1986 Head templates: {{en-noun}} greenwash (plural greenwashes)
  1. A false or misleading picture of environmental friendliness used to conceal or obscure damaging activities. Synonyms: greenwashing Translations (misleading picture of environmental friendliness): 漂綠 (Chinese Mandarin), 漂绿 (piǎolǜ) (Chinese Mandarin), grønvaskning [common-gender] (Danish), viherpesu (Finnish), écoblanchiment (French), グリーンウォッシング (gurīnwosshingu) (Japanese), 그린워싱 (geurinwosing) (Korean), lavado verde [masculine] (Spanish), lavado verde de imagen [masculine] (Spanish), greenwashing (Spanish), grönmålning [common-gender] (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-greenwash-en-noun-SLmjPxWA Categories (other): English blends, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -wash, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Danish translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Korean translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English blends: 53 47 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 49 51 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -wash: 53 46 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 53 47 Disambiguation of Terms with Danish translations: 55 45 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 56 44 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 54 46 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 55 45 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 54 46 Disambiguation of Terms with Korean translations: 56 44 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 55 45 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 54 46 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 56 44

Verb

IPA: /ˈɡɹiːnwɒʃ/ Audio: en-au-greenwash.ogg Forms: greenwashes [present, singular, third-person], greenwashing [participle, present], greenwashed [participle, past], greenwashed [past]
Etymology: Blend of green (“environmentally friendly”) + whitewash (or green + -wash), coined by Jay Westerveld in 1986. Etymology templates: {{blend|en|green|whitewash|gloss1=environmentally friendly}} Blend of green (“environmentally friendly”) + whitewash, {{suffix|en|green|wash}} green + -wash, {{coin|en|Jay Westerveld|in=1986|nocap=1|nocat=1}} coined by Jay Westerveld in 1986 Head templates: {{en-verb}} greenwash (third-person singular simple present greenwashes, present participle greenwashing, simple past and past participle greenwashed)
  1. (transitive, intransitive) To portray with a false or misleading image of environmental friendliness so as to conceal or obscure damaging activities. Tags: intransitive, transitive Related terms: green tape Translations (to disseminate such information): 漂綠 (Chinese Mandarin), 漂绿 (piǎolǜ) (Chinese Mandarin), grønvaske (Danish), viherpestä (Finnish), zöldnek tüntet fel / álcáz (Hungarian), grönmåla (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-greenwash-en-verb-SZq1zsDw Categories (other): English links with manual fragments, English blends, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -wash, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with French translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English blends: 53 47 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 49 51 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -wash: 53 46 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 53 47 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 54 46 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 55 45 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 54 46 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 54 46

Inflected forms

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          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
          "word": "漂綠"
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          "word": "grønvaskning"
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          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
          "word": "viherpesu"
        },
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          "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
          "word": "écoblanchiment"
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          "word": "グリーンウォッシング"
        },
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          "lang": "Korean",
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          "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
          "word": "그린워싱"
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          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
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          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
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          "ref": "2011, Elaine Wellin, Kristen Seraphin, Project Censored, Censored 2012: The Top 25 Censored Stories of 2010-11, →ISBN, Health and the Environment:",
          "text": "But what happens more often is that media “greenwashes” dirty energy sources (coal, gas, nuclear power) as “clean”—a particularly dangerous notion because it belies the threat they pose to our planet and human health.",
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          "ref": "2016 August 20, Bruce Watson, “The troubling evolution of corporate greenwashing”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "The commercials were very effective – in 1990, they won an Effie advertising award, and subsequently became a case study at Harvard Business school. They also became notorious among environmentalists, who have proclaimed them the gold standard of greenwashing – the corporate practice of making diverting sustainability claims to cover a questionable environmental record.",
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          "ref": "2023, WWF—Hong Kong, “Submission on Product Eco-responsibility (Amendment) Bill 2023 (LC Paper No. CB(1)398/2023(09))”, in Documents of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, page 2:",
          "text": "WWF recommends including the following Clauses in the Bill to avoid potential loopholes: […] Provide clear and comprehensive definitions of “disposable” and “single-use” to avoid greenwashing and false claims for products designed to be disposable but falsely marketed otherwise to circumvent the ban.",
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        "To portray with a false or misleading image of environmental friendliness so as to conceal or obscure damaging activities."
      ],
      "id": "en-greenwash-en-verb-SZq1zsDw",
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          "damaging",
          "damaging"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, intransitive) To portray with a false or misleading image of environmental friendliness so as to conceal or obscure damaging activities."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "green tape"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "to disseminate such information",
          "word": "漂綠"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "piǎolǜ",
          "sense": "to disseminate such information",
          "word": "漂绿"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "to disseminate such information",
          "word": "grønvaske"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to disseminate such information",
          "word": "viherpestä"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "note": "(dezinformációval) zöldnek/környezettudatosnak állít be",
          "sense": "to disseminate such information"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "note": "zöld/környezettudatos látszatot kelt (ve dezinformál)",
          "sense": "to disseminate such information"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to disseminate such information",
          "word": "zöldnek tüntet fel / álcáz"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to disseminate such information",
          "word": "grönmåla"
        }
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      "code": "cmn",
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      "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
      "word": "漂綠"
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      "roman": "piǎolǜ",
      "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
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      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "grønvaskning"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
      "word": "viherpesu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
      "word": "écoblanchiment"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "gurīnwosshingu",
      "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
      "word": "グリーンウォッシング"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "geurinwosing",
      "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
      "word": "그린워싱"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "lavado verde"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "lavado verde de imagen"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
      "word": "greenwashing"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "misleading picture of environmental friendliness",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "grönmålning"
    }
  ],
  "word": "greenwash"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjective-noun compound nouns",
    "English blends",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms suffixed with -wash",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Danish translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Korean translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "green",
        "3": "whitewash",
        "gloss1": "environmentally friendly"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of green (“environmentally friendly”) + whitewash",
      "name": "blend"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "green",
        "3": "wash"
      },
      "expansion": "green + -wash",
      "name": "suffix"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Jay Westerveld",
        "in": "1986",
        "nocap": "1",
        "nocat": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "coined by Jay Westerveld in 1986",
      "name": "coin"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Blend of green (“environmentally friendly”) + whitewash (or green + -wash), coined by Jay Westerveld in 1986.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "greenwashes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "greenwashing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "greenwashed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "greenwashed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "greenwash (third-person singular simple present greenwashes, present participle greenwashing, simple past and past participle greenwashed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "green tape"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English links with manual fragments",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2011, Elaine Wellin, Kristen Seraphin, Project Censored, Censored 2012: The Top 25 Censored Stories of 2010-11, →ISBN, Health and the Environment:",
          "text": "But what happens more often is that media “greenwashes” dirty energy sources (coal, gas, nuclear power) as “clean”—a particularly dangerous notion because it belies the threat they pose to our planet and human health.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016 August 20, Bruce Watson, “The troubling evolution of corporate greenwashing”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "The commercials were very effective – in 1990, they won an Effie advertising award, and subsequently became a case study at Harvard Business school. They also became notorious among environmentalists, who have proclaimed them the gold standard of greenwashing – the corporate practice of making diverting sustainability claims to cover a questionable environmental record.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023, WWF—Hong Kong, “Submission on Product Eco-responsibility (Amendment) Bill 2023 (LC Paper No. CB(1)398/2023(09))”, in Documents of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, page 2:",
          "text": "WWF recommends including the following Clauses in the Bill to avoid potential loopholes: […] Provide clear and comprehensive definitions of “disposable” and “single-use” to avoid greenwashing and false claims for products designed to be disposable but falsely marketed otherwise to circumvent the ban.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To portray with a false or misleading image of environmental friendliness so as to conceal or obscure damaging activities."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "false",
          "false"
        ],
        [
          "misleading",
          "misleading"
        ],
        [
          "environmental",
          "environmental"
        ],
        [
          "friendliness",
          "friendliness"
        ],
        [
          "conceal",
          "conceal"
        ],
        [
          "obscure",
          "obscure"
        ],
        [
          "damaging",
          "damaging"
        ],
        [
          "activities",
          "activities"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, intransitive) To portray with a false or misleading image of environmental friendliness so as to conceal or obscure damaging activities."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɡɹiːnwɒʃ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-greenwash.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/35/En-au-greenwash.ogg/En-au-greenwash.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/En-au-greenwash.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "to disseminate such information",
      "word": "漂綠"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "piǎolǜ",
      "sense": "to disseminate such information",
      "word": "漂绿"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "to disseminate such information",
      "word": "grønvaske"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to disseminate such information",
      "word": "viherpestä"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "note": "(dezinformációval) zöldnek/környezettudatosnak állít be",
      "sense": "to disseminate such information"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "note": "zöld/környezettudatos látszatot kelt (ve dezinformál)",
      "sense": "to disseminate such information"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to disseminate such information",
      "word": "zöldnek tüntet fel / álcáz"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to disseminate such information",
      "word": "grönmåla"
    }
  ],
  "word": "greenwash"
}

Download raw JSONL data for greenwash meaning in English (9.4kB)

{
  "called_from": "translations/609-20230504",
  "msg": "Translation too long compared to word, so it is skipped",
  "path": [
    "greenwash"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "verb",
  "title": "greenwash",
  "trace": ""
}

{
  "called_from": "translations/609-20230504",
  "msg": "Translation too long compared to word, so it is skipped",
  "path": [
    "greenwash"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "verb",
  "title": "greenwash",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.