censorious

[ sen-sawr-ee-uhs, -sohr- ]

adjective

1. severely critical; faultfinding; carping.

censorious

/ sɛnˈsɔːrɪəs /

adjective

1. harshly critical; fault-finding

Derived Forms

• cenˈsoriousness, noun
• cenˈsoriously, adverb

Other Words From

• cen·sori·ous·ly adverb
• cen·sori·ous·ness noun
• anti·cen·sori·ous adjective
• anti·cen·sori·ous·ly adverb
• anti·cen·sori·ous·ness noun
• noncen·sori·ous adjective
• noncen·sori·ous·ly adverb
• noncen·sori·ous·ness noun
• over·cen·sori·ous adjective
• over·cen·sori·ous·ly adverb
• over·cen·sori·ous·ness noun
• uncen·sori·ous adjective
• uncen·sori·ous·ly adverb
• uncen·sori·ous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of censorious¹

1530–40; < Latin cēnsōrius of a censor, hence, austere, moral; censor, -tory ¹

Example Sentences

The West can be just as censorious as China, he said Tuesday.

From Seattle Times

Beauchamp portrays this as a fight between Christian conservatives and "Barstool conservatives," who he describes as dude-bros less interested in Jesus and more in hating "what they see as censorious political correctness."

From Salon

"We cannot stress enough how these censorious efforts will not end with book bans," the open letter states.

From Salon

Even as other spaces for public expression have shrunk under Mr Xi's increasingly censorious regime, stand-up comedy has thrived, allowing young people to take a light-hearted view of their joys and frustrations.

From BBC

PEN America, which advocates for free speech, said the bill would impose “perhaps the most draconian and censorious restrictions on public colleges and universities in the country.”

From Washington Post