Anthropocene

//ˈæn.θɹə.pəˌsiːn// name, slang

name, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A proposed but rejected geological epoch, in which the effect of human activities on the global environment has disrupted the natural variability of the Holocene, ending the Holocene. (It was rejected as formal scientific nomenclature in 2024 owing to not meeting a bar for how a geological epoch is formally defined.) formal

    "Holonyms: Quaternary (current period), Age of Man (dated)"

  2. 2
    The era of human impact on the environment, irrespective of its nomenclatural status as a geological event or epoch; especially, the era of large impact (i.e., on industrial and postindustrial scale). broadly, informal

    "Holonyms: Holocene (current epoch) < Quaternary (current period), Age of Man (dated)"

Synonyms

All synonyms
holocene

Example

More examples

"Holonyms: Quaternary (current period), Age of Man (dated)"

Etymology

From a combination of anthropo- + -cene modeled on Holocene, Pleistocene, and similar. First attested in the 1960s in the translations of Russian-language scientific articles, possibly with a different meaning. Supposedly coined independently in the 1980s by American biologist Eugene Stoermer and later popularized by Dutch atmospheric chemist Paul J. Crutzen in 2000.

More for "anthropocene"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.