censor

[ sen-ser ]

/ ˈsɛn sər /

noun

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.

any person who supervises the manners or morality of others.

an adverse critic; faultfinder.

(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.

(in early Freudian dream theory) the force that represses ideas, impulses, and feelings, and prevents them from entering consciousness in their original, undisguised forms.

verb (used with object)

to examine and act upon as a censor.

to delete (a word or passage of text) in one's capacity as a censor.

Nearby words

cenotaph, cenote, cenozoic, cense, censer, censor, censorial, censorious, censoriously, censorship, censual

Origin of censor

1525–35; < Latin cēnsor, equivalent to cēns(ēre) to give as one's opinion, recommend, assess + -tor -tor; -sor for *-stor by analogy with derivatives from dentals, as tōnsor barber (see tonsorial)

Related forms

cen·sor·a·ble, adjectivecen·so·ri·al

[sen-sawr-ee-uh l, -sohr-] /sɛnˈsɔr i əl, -ˈsoʊr-/, cen·so·ri·an, adjectivean·ti·cen·so·ri·al, adjectivenon·cen·sored, adjective

o·ver·cen·sor, verb (used with object)pre·cen·sor, verb (used with object)re·cen·sor, verb (used with object)un·cen·sor·a·ble, adjectiveun·cen·sored, adjective

Can be confusedcenser censor censure sensor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for censoring

Sadly, it appears the American press often doesn't need any outside help when it comes to censoring themselves.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead|Luke O’Neil|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sweden explores new frontiers in our misguided, foolish, pointless obsession with rating and censoring entertainment.
The Insane Swedish Plan to Rate Games for Sexism|Nick Gillespie|November 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hardly an apologist for Vienna, Byron still found these tracts too extreme and in need of censoring.
Poet and Rake, Lord Byron Was Also an Interventionist With Brains and Savvy|Michael Weiss|February 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“They were censoring me because of my speech,” he told The Daily Beast.
The Controversial Abortion Horror Film|Marlow Stern|June 24, 2011|DAILY BEAST

If that's the case, then the Barnes Noble and Borders debacle isn't just a question of censoring the transgender body.
Andrej Pejic: The Model Barnes & Noble Didn't Want You to See|Isabel Wilkinson|May 20, 2011|DAILY BEAST
On occasion we had the job of censoring outgoing mail from the enlisted personnel.
The Biography of a Rabbit|Roy Benson
After censoring about 100 of my Company's letters I feel this will be a very incorrect performance.
Letters from Mesopotamia|Robert Palmer
At once I proceed to the monotonous job of censoring letters, because it has to be done, and it had better be finished early.
'Green Balls'|Paul Bewsher
The critic and I are agreed upon the wisdom of censoring the name I unthinkingly put in the first draft of this chapter.
Paris Vistas|Helen Davenport Gibbons
The question immediately arises, who is the censor or what part of us does the censoring?
Introduction to the Science of Sociology|Robert E. Park

British Dictionary definitions for censoring

censor

/ (ˈsɛnsə) /

noun

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

any person who controls or suppresses the behaviour of others, usually on moral grounds

(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

psychoanal the postulated factor responsible for regulating the translation of ideas and desires from the unconscious to the conscious mindSee also superego

verb (tr)

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

to act as a censor of (behaviour, etc)

Derived Formscensorable, adjectivecensorial (sɛnˈsɔːrɪəl), adjective

Word Origin for censor

C16: from Latin, from cēnsēre to consider, assess

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

Word Origin and History for censoring (1 of 2)

censor

1833 of media, from censor (n.). Related: Censored; censoring.

Word Origin and History for censoring (1 of 2)

censor

1530s, "Roman magistrate who took censuses and oversaw public morals," from Middle French censor and directly from Latin censor, from censere "to appraise, value, judge," from PIE root *kens- "speak solemnly, announce" (cf. Sanskrit śamsati "recites, praises," śasa "song of praise").

There were two of them at a time in classical times, usually patricians, and they also had charge of public finances and public works. Transferred sense of "officious judge of morals and conduct" in English is from 1590s. Roman censor also had a transferred sense of "a severe judge; a rigid moralist; a censurer." Of books, plays (later films, etc.), 1640s. By the early decades of the 19c. the meaning of the English word had shaded into "state agent charged with suppression of speech or published matter deemed politically subversive." Related: Censorial.

Medicine definitions for censoring

censor

[ sĕn′sər ]

n.

The hypothetical agent in the unconscious mind that is responsible for suppressing unconscious thoughts and wishes.

censor

noun

verb (used with object)

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Nearby words

Origin of censor

Examples from the Web for censoring

British Dictionary definitions for censoring

censor

noun

verb (tr)

Word Origin for censor

Word Origin and History for censoring (1 of 2)

censor

Word Origin and History for censoring (1 of 2)

censor

Medicine definitions for censoring

censor

n.