expurgate

[ ek-sper-geyt ]

verb (used with object)

, ex·pur·gat·ed, ex·pur·gat·ing.

1. to amend by removing words, passages, etc., deemed offensive or objectionable:

   Most children read an expurgated version of Grimms' fairy tales.

   Synonyms: bowdlerize, purge, censor, excise, delete

2. to purge or cleanse of moral offensiveness.

expurgate

/ ɛksˈpɜːɡətərɪ; ˈɛkspəˌɡeɪt; ɛkˌspɜːɡəˈtɔːrɪəl; -trɪ /

verb

1. tr to amend (a book, text, etc) by removing (obscene or offensive sections)

expurgate

1. To clean up, remove impurities. An expurgated edition of a book has had offensive words or descriptions changed or removed.

Derived Forms

• ˌexpurˈgation, noun
• expurgatory, adjective
• ˈexpurˌgator, noun

Other Words From

• expur·gation noun
• expur·gator noun
• un·expur·gated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of expurgate¹

1615–25; < Latin expurgātus, past participle of expurgāre to clean out. See ex- ¹, purge, -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of expurgate¹

C17: from Latin expurgāre to clean out, from purgāre to purify; see purge

Example Sentences

As a result, the drive to expurgate them has prompted more contentiousness than I’ve witnessed in my 20-plus years embedded in the game, filled with accusations of factual distortion and bad-faith management by the Scrabble association, not to mention ominous invocations of Fahrenheit 451 and 1984.

From Slate

Every time one of his children made a sound that was recognizably southern, Bull would expurgate that sound from his child’s tongue on the spot.

From Literature

We lose a critical piece of our cultural knowledge – and our ability to recognize who we were so we can actually change – when we expurgate anything tricky or objectionable from the record.

From The Guardian

In fact, there had been nothing to expurgate.

From The New Yorker

"After that, the war against terrorist groups and drug traffickers, which is essential to expurgate the area of the whole threat, will be much easier."

From Reuters