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

The latter doesn’t sound bad at all, until you remember that Marc Andreessen is one of Trump’s tech-world advisers, and that one of his big things these days is threatening to prosecute government/university/business officials who apparently “coordinated” to “censor” Elon Musk’s X by pulling advertising.

From Slate

A car attack that killed 35 people in China has sparked questions about a recent spate of public violence, as officials continue to censor discussion on the incident.

From BBC

Nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been pushed in the U.S. over the past few years, many of which aimed to ban or censor drag performances.

From Slate

“Bill has begun to censor the shirts in his windows!!” he writes.

From Slate

It was a bombshell: The document alleged that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ top advisers, not Wilson, had concocted the entire scheme to censor ads for Amendment 4.

From Slate

Related Words

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