Meanings
plural climate strikes
- A protest in which people absent themselves from professional or educational activities in order to join demonstrations calling for action to counter climate change.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA protest in which people absent themselves from professional or educational activities in order to join demonstrations calling for action to counter climate change.
Origin
Firstly coined in 2015 during a mass demonstration at UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, the expression took off only in 2018 after the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg started skipping school on Fridays in order to protest in front of the national parliament. In September 2019 around six million people joined the climate strike worldwide.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 气候罢工
- 气候罢工 (qìhòubàgōng)a protest in form of skipping school or work to draw public's attention to the problem of climate crisis
Dutch klimaatstaking
- klimaatstakinga protest in form of skipping school or work to draw public's attention to the problem of climate crisis
Finnish ilmastolakko
- ilmastolakkoa protest in form of skipping school or work to draw public's attention to the problem of climate crisis
French grève pour le climat
- grève pour le climata protest in form of skipping school or work to draw public's attention to the problem of climate crisis
German Klimastreik
- Klimastreika protest in form of skipping school or work to draw public's attention to the problem of climate crisis
Japanese 気候ストライキ
- 気候ストライキ (kikōsutoraiki)a protest in form of skipping school or work to draw public's attention to the problem of climate crisis
Korean 기후 파업
- 기후 파업 (gihu pa'eop)a protest in form of skipping school or work to draw public's attention to the problem of climate crisis
Polish strajk klimatyczny
- strajk klimatycznya protest in form of skipping school or work to draw public's attention to the problem of climate crisis
Russian климати́ческая забасто́вка
- климати́ческая забасто́вка (klimatíčeskaja zabastóvka)a protest in form of skipping school or work to draw public's attention to the problem of climate crisis
Cite this entry
climate strike. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/climate%20strike
“climate strike.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/climate%20strike. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “climate strike,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/climate%20strike.
Source: climate strike on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.