garbologist
garbologist Lexical Profile
garbologist Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An anthropologist, archaeologist, or sociologist who studies modern society, culture, and consumption patterns by analyzing household or municipal waste.
"By excavating layers of a municipal landfill, the garbologist discovered that households discarded far more edible food than they reported in surveys."
Australian A sanitation worker employed to collect and dispose of household refuse (used humorously or colloquially).
"The local garbologist arrived early Tuesday morning to empty the neighborhood bins along the street."
• Rhymes for garbologist
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the 1970s as a humorous blend of "garbage" and "-ologist", the term gained academic legitimacy through the work of anthropologist William Rathje, who founded the Tucson Garbage Project at the University of Arizona in 1973 to study modern human consumption via landfill excavations.