censor

[ sen-ser ]

noun

1. an official who examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams, etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds.
2. any person who supervises the manners or morality of others.
3. an adverse critic; faultfinder.
4. (in the ancient Roman republic) either of two officials who kept the register or census of the citizens, awarded public contracts, and supervised manners and morals.
5. (in early Freudian dream theory) the force that represses ideas, impulses, and feelings, and prevents them from entering consciousness in their original, undisguised forms.

verb (used with object)

1. to examine and act upon as a censor.
2. to delete (a word or passage of text) in one's capacity as a censor.

censor

/ ˈsɛnsə; sɛnˈsɔːrɪəl /

noun

1. a person authorized to examine publications, theatrical presentations, films, letters, etc, in order to suppress in whole or part those considered obscene, politically unacceptable, etc
2. any person who controls or suppresses the behaviour of others, usually on moral grounds
3. (in republican Rome) either of two senior magistrates elected to keep the list of citizens up to date, control aspects of public finance, and supervise public morals
4. psychoanal the postulated factor responsible for regulating the translation of ideas and desires from the unconscious to the conscious mind See also superego

verb

1. to ban or cut portions of (a publication, film, letter, etc)
2. to act as a censor of (behaviour, etc)

Derived Forms

• ˈcensorable, adjective
• censorial, adjective

Other Words From

• censor·a·ble adjective
• cen·so·ri·al [sen-, sawr, -ee-, uh, l, -, sohr, -], cen·sori·an adjective
• anti·cen·sori·al adjective
• non·censored adjective
• over·censor verb (used with object)
• pre·censor verb (used with object)
• re·censor verb (used with object)
• un·censor·a·ble adjective
• un·censored adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of censor¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin cēnsor, from cēns(ēre) “to give as one's opinion, recommend, assess” + -tor -tor; -sor instead of expected -stor by analogy with tōnsor “barber,” and similarly derived nouns ( tonsorial )

Word History and Origins

Origin of censor¹

C16: from Latin, from cēnsēre to consider, assess

Example Sentences

Navy to protect their comms, the browser’s code was made public in the mid-2000s and TOR became a nonprofit aimed at helping activists in authoritarian regimes bypass the censors.

From Salon

Many posts, comments and articles about the Zhuhai incident have been censored in recent days, as officials limit discussion of what appears to have been deemed as a politically sensitive topic.

From BBC

It also censored scientific data on government websites and tried to undermine the findings of the National Climate Assessment, the government’s scientific report on the risks and impacts of climate change to the country.

From Salon

Trump, who operates his own his own social media platform, Truth Social, has been critical of Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms and Google, accusing them of censoring his speech, allegations they deny.

From Los Angeles Times

Pictures from last year's Halloween event showed people dressing up as a giant surveillance camera, Covid testers, and a censored Weibo post.

From BBC

Related Words

• abridge
• black out
• blacklist
• delete
• edit
• excise
• restrict
• sanitize
• suppress
• withhold