Dictionary

PETA-phile en · NOUN

Etymology

Blend of PETA + pedophile, equivalent to PETA + -phile.

Meanings

1. (derogatory) A supporter of PETA, an American animal rights organization.
   • These are not the ravings of some PETA-phile but the purportedly honest conclusions of a, by his own lights, fellow sportsman. 2015 December 14, Thomas McIntyre, “Fierce Objects of Desire”, in Anthony Licata, editor, Field & Stream, volume 120, number 8, via EBSCOhost, →ISSN, page 90:
   • Regurgitated would be OK. By the wayside, are there any decent alternatives to leather jackets? (Not that I'm a Petaphile, mind yall.) 1993 November 27, Inguinal j Splenetic, “I need some clothes in San Francisco”, in alt.fashion (Usenet), via Google Groups, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2026:
   • There seems little point, moreover, in trying to marginalize PETA-philes by faulting their rejection of the animal kingdom's remorseless food chain paradigm — that the big fish eat the little fish — or repudiation of the worldwide acceptance of meat eating as a proper option for descendants of hunters and gatherers. 2003 July 28, Richard Martin, “Game of chicken: Critics say capitulation to PETA will worsen animal rights reprisals”, in Nation's Restaurant News, volume 37, number 30, Lebhar-Friedman, via EBSCOhost, →ISSN, page 31:

Forms