Dictionary

litterbug en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈlɪtɚˌbʌɡ/ (US)

Etymology

From litter + bug. Coined in 1947 by New York copywriter Paul B. Gioni for The American Ad Council, perhaps punning on jitterbug.

Meanings

1. (informal) A person who tends to drop litter and not clean it up.
   • Pretending a litterbug and a spree killer have committed equivalent infractions doesn’t make people safer. 2021 January 8, Nicole Hemmer, “The striking parallels between the assaults on Charlottesville and the Capitol”, in CNN:
   • […] I mean I'm sittin' here, on the Group W bench, 'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough to join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages, after being a litterbug 1967, Arlo Guthrie, “Alice's Restaurant”:
   • Mr. Doherty was known to publicly berate litterbugs and upbraid motorists whose stranded cars prevented plows from clearing snow. 2023 April 18, Sam Roberts, “John J. Doherty, Stalwart Sanitation Commissioner, Dies at 84”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 26 Dec 2024:

Forms

Synonyms

litter lout

Translations (5)

ms kutu sampah (person who drops litter) · cmn 垃圾蟲 /垃圾虫 (person who drops litter) · de Schmutzfink (person who drops litter) · fi roskaaja (person who drops litter) · cy sbwrgi (person who drops litter)