censor

American  

[sen-ser] / ˈsɛn sər /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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verb

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

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

Other Word Forms

• anticensorial
  adjective
• censorable
  adjective
• censorial
  adjective
• censorian
  adjective
• noncensored
  adjective
• overcensor
  verb (used with object)
• precensor
  verb (used with object)
• recensor
  verb (used with object)
• uncensorable
  adjective
• uncensored
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of censor

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)

Explanation

A censor takes out things that are objectionable or inappropriate, like the censors at the TV networks bleeping out all the bad words in a show. To put it simply, a censor judges. Originating in the 1530’s, a censor was originally a Roman magistrate who took censuses and oversaw public morals. Censors today are hired by TV stations, publishers and the government to examine books, films and other material and strip out or flag all the amoral, offensive or otherwise bad stuff. Thankfully, in the U.S. free speech usually wins out over censorship.

Example Sentences

His most “persistent hater,” the pompous moralist Cato the Censor, railed at Scipio’s unseemly pride and alleged corruption.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 16, 2025

The Bangladesh Film Censor Board recently denied a certificate to yet another film, “The Border,” directed by Saikat Nasir.

From New York Times • Oct. 3, 2022

But she also points out that she and her co-writer Anthony Fletcher set Censor amidst the violence of the miners' strike and the unemployment of early 1980s Britain.

From BBC • Aug. 18, 2021

That these films look sort of bad only makes Censor more effective.

From The Verge • Feb. 1, 2021

Consol Censor Aidilis quei fuit apud vos Taurasia Cisauna Samnio cepit subicit omne Loucana opsidesque abdoucit.”

From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by Dunlop, John

Related Words

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