Comstockery

[ kuhm-stok-uh-ree, kom- ]

noun

1. overzealous moral censorship of the fine arts and literature, often mistaking outspokenly honest works for salacious ones.

comstockery

/ ˈkʌmˌstɒkərɪ; ˈkɒm- /

noun

1. immoderate censorship on grounds of immorality

Other Words From

• Comstocker noun
• Com·stocki·an adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Comstockery¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; after A. Comstock ( def ) + -ery

Word History and Origins

Origin of Comstockery¹

C20: coined by G. B. Shaw (1905) after Anthony Comstock (1844–1915), US moral crusader, who founded the Society for the Suppression of Vice

Example Sentences

“Comstockery is the world’s standing joke at the expense of the United States,” Shaw commented.

From Los Angeles Times

“Comstockery has been given a new lease on life by this Congress,” Ms. Schroeder, who died in March, mourned at the time in a floor speech.

From New York Times

George Bernard Shaw said America was suffering from “Comstockery.”

From Scientific American

In 1905, George Bernard Shaw, the playwright, referred to censorship-happy moralism as “Comstockery” in a letter to The New York Times.

From New York Times

Yet while chiding extreme libertarianism, Selbourne veers dangerously close to Comstockery in his tsk-tsking of noise that “masquerades as music,” gender fluidity, sperm banks, bad grammar, video plagiarists and other presumed vices.

From New York Times