censorious

American  

[sen-sawr-ee-uhs, -sohr-] / sɛnˈsɔr i əs, -ˈsoʊr- /

adjective

1. severely critical; faultfinding; carping.

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censorious British  

/ sɛnˈsɔːrɪəs /

adjective

1. harshly critical; fault-finding

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Other Word Forms

• anticensorious adjective
• anticensoriously adverb
• anticensoriousness noun
• censoriously adverb
• censoriousness noun
• noncensorious adjective
• noncensoriously adverb
• noncensoriousness noun
• overcensorious adjective
• overcensoriously adverb
• overcensoriousness noun
• uncensorious adjective
• uncensoriously adverb
• uncensoriousness noun

Etymology

Origin of censorious

1530–40; < Latin cēnsōrius of a censor, hence, austere, moral; censor, -tory ¹

Example Sentences

And then there are “family values,” a whole range of social issues usually related to sexual behavior and typically expressed in censorious, moralizing terms.

From Salon • Feb. 7, 2026

We are seeing a censorious instinct bubbling up in politicians alarmed by these developments.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

Perhaps to the dismay of the censorious, it is also instructional.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2025

Stories of censorious undergraduates and ridiculous newspeak in the U.S. found grateful consumers in French, German, and U.K. media.

From Slate • Jan. 5, 2025

In fact, Jesse and many geeks consider themselves liberators of ideas and culture, using the Net to literally pry them from what they see as greedy corporations and powerful, censorious institutions.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz