greenwash
/ˈɡɹiːnwɒʃ/noun, verb
greenwash is spelled G-R-E-E-N-W-A-S-H: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 49 million words in written English, the 217,360th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, greenwash means “A false or misleading picture of environmental friendliness used to conceal or obscure damaging activities” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of greenwash is greenwashes.
How many letters and syllables are in greenwash?
| Letters | 9: G-R-E-E-N-W-A-S-H |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 49 million words; the 217,360th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is greenwash?
Greenwash appears about once in every 49 million words in written English, the 217,360th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce greenwash?
- /ˈɡɹiːnwɒʃ/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-greenwash.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of greenwash
- greenwashes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- greenwashing participle, present
- greenwashed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does greenwash mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A false or misleading picture of environmental friendliness used to conceal or obscure damaging activities.
verb
- 1
To portray with a false or misleading image of environmental friendliness so as to conceal or obscure damaging activities.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Greenwash in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense misleading picture of environmental friendliness:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | écoblanchiment |
| Spanish | lavado verde, lavado verde de imagen, greenwashing |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does greenwash come from?
Blend of green (“environmentally friendly”) + whitewash (or green + -wash), coined by Jay Westerveld in 1986.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).