Meanings
present singular third person maplewashes · participle present maplewashing · participle past maplewashed · past maplewashed · alternative maple-wash · alternative maple wash
- Canadaderogatorybusinessthe misleading use of Canadian symbols, claims, or associations to exaggerate the Canadian origin, ownership, content, or character of a product, business, or service.
CED prefers the more general “maplewash”.
2025 December 13, Mark Liberman, “Maplewashing”, in Language Log5 more examples
Following a national poll, Canada’s 2025 word of the year is “maplewash,” defined as the deceptive practice of making things appear more Canadian than they actually are.
2025 December 17, Maegen Kulchar, “Queen's University helps to determine Canada's first official word of the year”, in Global The Kingston Whig StandardIf there’s one thing we don’t need to maplewash, it’s the Canadian English language: it’s already a uniquely Canadian combination […]
2025 December 12, John Chew, “2025 Canadian Word of the Year is “Maplewash””, in Society for Canadian EnglishIn the latest SHuSH newsletter, Ken Whyte discusses one of the most cynical and blatant attempts to “Maplewash” US product as 100% home-grown Canadian.
2025 October 19, Nicholas, “Printed Maplewash from Random Penguin “Canada””, in Quotulatiousness, archived from the original on 23 Oct 2025all made in the US—often from Canadian seeds, which they use to maplewash their branding.
2025 July 11, Mike Takasaki, “66. Who's Knocking it out of the Ballpark?”, in The Plate Cleanercompanies can use them to “Maplewash” your grocery shopping.
2025 April 12, CanCon, “Explaining "Made in Canada" vs "Product of Canada" vs Everything Else”, in CanCon - governmentthe idealized or selective portrayal of Canada, its institutions, or its history, especially one that obscures wrongdoing or social problems and presents Canada as morally superior to other countries.
That's why we should be careful not to maplewash history when retelling it.
2016, “maplewashing”, in Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles
Origin
From maple + -wash / ˈmā-pəl-ˌwȯsh / From the Canadian maple leaf as a national emblem. Formed on the pattern of greenwash and whitewash. The commercial sense most closely parallels greenwash; the older historical and political sense also draws upon whitewash. Earliest known attestations date from 2016; the coinage is commonly, but not conclusively, attributed to Canadian writer Luke Savage.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
maplewash. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maplewash
“maplewash.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maplewash. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “maplewash,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maplewash.
Source: maplewash on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.