greenwashing
noun, verb
greenwashing is spelled G-R-E-E-N-W-A-S-H-I-N-G: 12 letters. It appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 136,649th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, greenwashing means “The practice by people, organizations and states of presenting themselves as environmentally-friendly and progressive in order to disguise or divert…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of greenwashing is greenwashings.
How many letters and syllables are in greenwashing?
| Letters | 12: G-R-E-E-N-W-A-S-H-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 20 million words; the 136,649th 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 greenwashing?
Greenwashing appears about once in every 20 million words in written English, the 136,649th 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).
Forms of greenwashing
- greenwashings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does greenwashing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 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.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of greenwash
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Greenwashing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | écoblanchiment, habillage écologique |
| Spanish | lavado verde, ecoblanqueo, ecoblanqueando, lavando verde |
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 greenwashing come from?
Blend of green + whitewashing (or green + -wash + -ing).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).