censure
Americannoun
-
strong or vehement expression of disapproval.
The newspapers were unanimous in their censure of the tax proposal.
- Synonyms:
- animadversion, stricture, reprimand, rebuke, reprehension, reproach, reproof, condemnation
- Antonyms:
- praise
-
an official reprimand, as by a legislative body of one of its members.
- Antonyms:
- praise
verb (used with object)
-
censures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
censured,
past participle, past
-
censuring
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
censures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
censured,
past participle, past
-
censuring
present participle
noun
verb
Usage
What does censure mean? Censure is passionate or intense criticism, as in Many countries were united in their censure of the nation responsible for the nuclear disaster. Censure can also refer to an official condemnation or reprimand, especially by a legislative body to one of its members, as in The lawyer’s terrible conduct earned him a censure from the judge. As a verb, censure means to intensely and harshly criticize something, as in The governor was censured by the media for his incredibly poor handling of the state’s hurricane response. Censure could be confused with the similarly spelled words censer, censor, and sensor. A censer is a container that holds burning incense. A censor is a person who looks for unacceptable or immoral material in media or creative works. A sensor is a device that sends a signal in reaction to environmental conditions. Example: The musician faced intense censure from other artists after stealing melodies and their career never recovered from the backlash.
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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censurernoun
-
supercensurenoun
-
miscensureverb
-
precensureverb (used with object)
-
censurelessadjective
-
procensureadjective
-
uncensuredadjective
-
uncensuringadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
censuresimple
-
censuressimple
-
have censuredperfect
-
has censuredperfect
-
am censuringprogressive
-
are censuringprogressive
-
is censuringprogressive
-
have been censuringperfect progressive
-
has been censuringperfect progressive
Past
-
censuredsimple
-
had censuredperfect
-
was censuringprogressive
-
were censuringprogressive
-
had been censuringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of censure
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin cēnsūra censor's office, assessment, equivalent to cēns ( us ) past participle of cēnsēre ( see censor) + -ūra -ure
Explanation
Censure is a noun referring to very strong criticism; the verb means to criticize very strongly. If you take your dad's car without telling him, you can expect him to censure you severely, and maybe even ground you as well. The noun and verb are most closely associated with official expressions of disapproval, as when Congress censures a senator. The noun is from Latin cēnsūra, "censorship," from cēnsor, "an ancient Roman censor." The job of a Roman censor was to take the census and to supervise public morals and behavior. Our English word censor — which means to suppress speech or other forms of expression — is from this Latin word.
Vocabulary lists containing censure
Grade 11, List 1
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Animal Farm
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Othello
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Prison bosses later faced formal censure proceedings after inmates and staff were exposed to dangerous levels of the naturally occurring radioactive gas.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Mr. Buruma resists glib post hoc censure, acknowledging that German civilians “lived in constant fear of their own government.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
Noem was the public face of that disapproval, strutting forward with arrogance in the face of public censure, a veritable clown show of ineptitude.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
Fine has not appeared fearful of censure or any loss of his committee assignments.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026
In fact, the issue was never raised at the convention, and the censure was never reversed.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2025
It still demands collusion, censures dissent, confuses the exertion of power with the protest against it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2023
Government officials say the Gray report, which is being closely watched for the extent to which it censures Johnson and his Conservative government, will be published as soon as possible, though unlikely before next week.
From Seattle Times ● May 19, 2022
Gorsuch said that Congress has been censuring members since the 19th century and that “elected bodies in this country issued no fewer than 20 censures in August 2020 alone.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 24, 2022
But the ignorance he censures is not of the understanding alone; nor is it curable by philosophy and science.
From The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians by G. G. Findlay
In December, McCarthy was censured by the Senate and died three years later.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
It could also ask for him to be formally censured at a future council meeting.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
It’s infrequent that a judge is publicly or privately censured.
From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2025
FBI agents at field offices and at headquarters who resisted Gray’s power were censured, fired or transferred.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2025
“That’s your own fault,” Milo censured them both self- righteously.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Critics are censuring Mr. Warsh for turning his back on those goals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
But make no mistake about its significance: Parliament censuring a man who was prime minister as recently as September in the strongest possible terms.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2023
North Carolina State Representative Mark Brody, who supports censuring Sen. Tillis, says it is better to address differences directly.
From Reuters ● Mar. 3, 2023
Yet years later, as head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he was emphatic in asserting Rome’s authority, censuring theologians and advocating greater freedom to use the Latin Mass.
From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2022
“I would wish not to be hasty in censuring any one; but I always speak what I think.”
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
