Meaning & use
green thumb person
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableinformal
A person who is naturally good at growing and caring for plants.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a green thumb person' or 'two green thumb people'. It is a noun phrase made of 'green thumb' + 'person'.
Patterns
- a green thumb person
- be a green thumb person
My grandmother is a real green thumb person; her garden is full of flowers all year.
He's a green thumb person—he can make anything grow, even in poor soil.
If you're a green thumb person, you'll enjoy this new plant shop downtown.
Word forms
| plural | green thumb people |
|---|
Common combinations
- a real green thumb person
- She's a real green thumb person; she grows all her own vegetables.
- a green thumb person with plants
- He's a green thumb person with plants of all kinds, from ferns to cacti.
- become a green thumb person
- After taking a gardening class, she became a green thumb person.
- a green thumb person in the family
- My uncle is the green thumb person in the family; everyone else kills their plants.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gardener
- A gardener may garden as a job or hobby, but a green thumb person is specifically someone with a natural talent for it.
- horticulturist
- A horticulturist is a formal or professional term for someone who studies or works with plants; a green thumb person is informal and does not imply formal training.
Word family
- green thumb noun
- The ability to grow plants well; the phrase 'green thumb person' is formed from it.
- green-fingered adjective
- British English adjective meaning good at gardening.
Commonly confused: green thumb person or green fingers?
green thumb person vs green fingers
British English uses 'green fingers' for the same idea, while American English uses 'green thumb'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'green thumb person' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Green thumb person' is a noun phrase describing a person, so it fits after 'is' in sentence B. The other options treat it as an object or verb, which is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “green thumb person”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.