Dictionary

sustainwash en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /səˈsteɪnwɒʃ/

Etymology

From sustain + -wash, following the established pattern of greenwash, pinkwash, and similar forms (which came ultimately from the figurative-extension sense of whitewash as "to slap a paintjob over the truth to hide it and to give a specious nice appearance"); this form also rhymes with brainwash, as does humanewash.

Meanings

1. To engage in the sustainability analogue of, or subset of, greenwashing.
   • wondering whether the advertisement's talk of sustainability might be trying to sustainwash the reality

Forms

Hypernyms

greenwash