censor

American  

[sen-ser] / ˈsɛn sər /

noun

• censors
  plural

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)

• censors,
  present (3rd person singular)
• censored,
  past participle,  past
• censoring
  present participle

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 /

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• censors
  plural

Participles

• censoring
  present
• censored
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• censor
  simple
• censors
  simple
• have censored
  perfect
• has censored
  perfect
• am censoring
  progressive
• are censoring
  progressive
• is censoring
  progressive
• have been censoring
  perfect progressive
• has been censoring
  perfect progressive

Past

• censored
  simple
• had censored
  perfect
• was censoring
  progressive
• were censoring
  progressive
• had been censoring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will censor
  simple
• will have censored
  perfect
• will be censoring
  progressive
• will have been censoring
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

censor censors censored censoring

Baser told BBC Scotland News she was told she did not need to "censor" her set by festival staff, and apologised for "any upset".

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

A: Being censored by others is one thing but I do not censor myself.

From Barron's ● May 21, 2026

Cue Mr. Carr, his wannabe censor at the FCC.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

The trial included testimony from Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, who told the court that the company is trying to be as “safe as possible but also censor as little as possible.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026

I put the letter into the box for the prison censor.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Some overseas Chinese media outlets read it as the first lady discreetly steadying her husband, and said censors had cut the audio of her urging him to “slow down.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

He reposted most but they were often deleted by censors, who warned that his account could be closed.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

Tens of thousands of Iranians use them to connect with loved ones domestically and abroad, and to share information outside the control of government firewalls and censors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

They’re the ones who sound like out-of-touch censors trying to police popular culture.

From Salon ● Feb. 11, 2026

But this time, I have a mission, though I’ve got to be extra careful on account of the censors.

From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez

It has also been difficult to find the video on China's heavily censored internet.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

“Who has been censored here? Name one journalist whom we have censored? There isn’t one.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

The ads use implicit phrases and censored visuals in an attempt to avoid moderation, Patane found.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

“While data is imperfect and internet use remains heavily censored; we think the reports of restoration of connectivity implies the Iran regime expects a conclusion of the conflict is imminent,” Flight says.

From MarketWatch ● May 29, 2026

Newspapers were censored and some were closed down, for security reasons they said.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

The lawmakers said the measure was "not about censoring a service or banning a social network; it is about no longer brandishing a threat that nobody believes in".

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

We are explicitly prohibited from censoring broadcasters, but this is censorship.

From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026

The FCC says on its website that the "First Amendment and the Communications Act expressly prohibit the Commission from censoring broadcast matter".

From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2026

Google famously exited the Chinese internet search market in 2010 after deciding it wasn’t comfortable censoring results to abide by the government’s censorship rules.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026

But Lyddie, who had never had any ambition to be thought a lady, did find herself asking, What would Amelia think?—and censoring her own behavior from time to time accordingly.

From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson

Related Words

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