bowdlerize

American  

[bohd-luh-rahyz, boud-] / ˈboʊd ləˌraɪz, ˈbaʊd- /

especially British, bowdlerise

verb (used with object)

bowdlerized, bowdlerizing

1. to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

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bowdlerize British  

/ ˈbaʊdləˌraɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to remove passages or words regarded as indecent from (a play, novel, etc); expurgate

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Other Word Forms

• bowdlerism noun
• bowdlerization noun
• bowdlerizer noun
• unbowdlerized adjective

Etymology

Origin of bowdlerize

1830–40; after Thomas Bowdler (1754–1825), English editor of an expurgated edition of Shakespeare

Explanation

To bowdlerize means to edit offensive parts out of something. If the hero in an R-rated movie adapted for TV exclaims, “Oh shoot fudge darn!” but his lips seem to be saying something else, that movie has been bowdlerized. The word bowdlerized comes from the name of Dr. T. Bowdler, who decided to publish an edition of Shakespeare without sexual references or double-entendres (which is when a word has two meanings, one of them cheeky). Mr. Bowdler thought he was performing a great service for humanity, but generally if we call something bowdlerized, we’re implying that it was edited in a prudish way.

Example Sentences

Apparently, to bowdlerize Coco Chanel, elegance really has been refusal.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 18, 2018

To bowdlerize Benjamin Franklin, in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and Arsenal finishing in the top four.

From The Guardian • Apr. 26, 2017

The rush to bowdlerize  what Biden had said turned  a glancing tap of the bruise into a grinding fist.

From Slate • May 9, 2012

Censorship is so repugnant to most moviemakers they would rather have Mondo Freudo shown in a kindergarten than let a censor bowdlerize Ulysses.

From Time Magazine Archive

I cannot, unfortunately, bowdlerize the best of these without spoiling them, so I will endeavor to give a few examples of the less forceful.

From Reminiscences of a South African Pioneer by Scully, W. C. (William Charles)