censor

[ sen-ser ]
See synonyms for censor on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. an adverse critic; faultfinder.

  2. (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.

  3. (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.

Origin of censor

1
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 (see tonsorial)

Other words from censor

  • cen·sor·a·ble, adjective
  • cen·so·ri·al [sen-sawr-ee-uhl, -sohr-], /sɛnˈsɔr i əl, -ˈsoʊr-/, 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

Words that may be confused with censor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use censor in a sentence

  • I'm at a loss to make my letters interesting, as we are allowed to say little concerning the voyage and everything is censored.

    Carry On | Coningsby Dawson
  • This is accounted for by the fact that the Hungarian Government rigorously censored Slovak publications.

    Our Foreigners | Samuel P. Orth
  • The editorial explanation of my severance with the Tepee was in bad taste and my own card was censored to suit the drawing.

    The Discards | Lucullus Virgil McWhorter
  • I can't explain the present situation to you because it would only be censored, but I hope to write about it later.

  • Twenty years later, the work would have been ignored in silence or censored out of existence, so zigzag is the path of progress.

British Dictionary definitions for censor

censor

/ (ˈsɛnsə) /


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

  1. (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

  2. psychoanal the postulated factor responsible for regulating the translation of ideas and desires from the unconscious to the conscious mind: See also superego

verb(tr)
  1. to ban or cut portions of (a publication, film, letter, etc)

  2. to act as a censor of (behaviour, etc)

Origin of censor

1
C16: from Latin, from cēnsēre to consider, assess

Derived forms of censor

  • censorable, adjective
  • censorial (sɛnˈsɔːrɪəl), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012