'anti-environmentalist' originates from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti', meaning 'against') combined with 'environmentalist', which itself is formed from 'environment' + the agentive suffix '-alist'.

'environment' came into English from Old French 'environer' / Middle French 'environnement'; 'environmentalist' developed in English in the 20th century to denote someone concerned with environmental protection, and 'anti-' was later prefixed to form 'anti-environmentalist'.

Initially, 'environmentalist' referred to a person concerned with preserving the environment; 'anti-environmentalist' has consistently meant someone opposed to those concerns or policies, a usage that emerged as environmental politics became more prominent.