censor
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.
any person who supervises the manners or morality of others.
an adverse critic; faultfinder.
(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.
(in early Freudian dream theory) the force that represses ideas, impulses, and feelings, and prevents them from entering consciousness in their original, undisguised forms.
to examine and act upon as a censor.
to delete (a word or passage of text) in one's capacity as a censor.
Origin of censor
1Other 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
For example, if we can have open Internet, will it be censored?
Social media is heavily censored, with Instagram blocked and access to various websites operating at a crawl.
Weibo, China's equivalent to Twitter, has censored posts from Hong Kong.
Would it have been a better story if I had censored artists whose work might be personally disobliging?
Saatchi Website Sells Pictures of Him Throttling Nigella | Tom Sykes | June 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was post-Stalin, and they were unthreatened by the gulag, but censored and surveilled.
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 DawsonThis is accounted for by the fact that the Hungarian Government rigorously censored Slovak publications.
Our Foreigners | Samuel P. OrthThe 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 McWhorterI can't explain the present situation to you because it would only be censored, but I hope to write about it later.
My War Experiences in Two Continents | Sarah MacnaughtanTwenty years later, the work would have been ignored in silence or censored out of existence, so zigzag is the path of progress.
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Vol. 13 | Elbert Hubbard
British Dictionary definitions for censor
/ (ˈsɛnsə) /
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
any person who controls or suppresses the behaviour of others, usually on moral grounds
(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
psychoanal the postulated factor responsible for regulating the translation of ideas and desires from the unconscious to the conscious mind: See also superego
to ban or cut portions of (a publication, film, letter, etc)
to act as a censor of (behaviour, etc)
Origin of censor
1Derived 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
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