bowdlerize

[ bohd-luh-rahyz, boud- ]

See synonyms for bowdlerize on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),bowd·ler·ized, bowd·ler·iz·ing.

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

Origin of bowdlerize

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

Also especially British, bowd·ler·ise .

Other words from bowdlerize

bowd·ler·ism, noun
bowd·ler·i·za·tion, noun
bowd·ler·iz·er, noun
un·bowd·ler·ized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bowdlerize in a sentence

I know we've told each other all our lives before, but of course we both bowdlerized.
The Beautiful Miss Brooke | Louis Zangwill
The text was bowdlerized by Chambers, but the book contained much new and valuable information.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for bowdlerize

bowdlerize

bowdlerise

/ (ˈbaʊdləˌraɪz) /

verb

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

Origin of bowdlerize

C19: after Thomas Bowdler (1754–1825), English editor who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare

Derived forms of bowdlerize

bowdlerization or bowdlerisation, noun
bowdlerizer or bowdleriser, noun
bowdlerism, noun

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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