censor

[ sen-ser ]

/ ˈsɛn sər /

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See synonyms for: censor / censored on Thesaurus.com

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.

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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)

OTHER WORDS FROM censor

cen·sor·a·ble, adjectivecen·so·ri·al

[sen-sawr-ee-uhl, -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

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH censor

censer, censor , censure, sensor

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

How to use censor in a sentence

“There’s a careful line of not being a censor, but also not enabling damaging ideas,” said GroupM global president of business intelligence Brian Wieser.
‘Emotions are so heightened’: Why the election fallout hammers home the need for marketers to act responsibly|Lara O'Reilly|November 9, 2020|Digiday
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
LinkedIn was caught self-censoring posts coming out of China this year.
Alibaba’s Dark Side: Censoring Customers|Brendon Hong|November 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Guests and employees alike, he says, began “self-censoring.”
The KGB Welcomes You to Estonia’s Hotel Viru. Please Mind the Hidden Bugs|Nina Strochlic|July 31, 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
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
On occasion we had the job of censoring outgoing mail from the enlisted personnel.
The Biography of a Rabbit|Roy Benson
It amounts to a public-relations job, a production, with me merely censoring aspects that might be bad for Dabney's psyche.
Operation: Outer Space|William Fitzgerald Jenkins
After censoring about 100 of my Company's letters I feel this will be a very incorrect performance.
Letters from Mesopotamia|Robert Palmer
I never believed in censoring the press until I came to occupy a responsible position in Denmark.
Ten Years Near the German Frontier|Maurice Francis Egan

British Dictionary definitions for censor

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 forms of censor

censorable, 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

censor

Origin of censor

OTHER WORDS FROM censor

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH censor

Words related to censor

How to use censor in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for censor

Derived forms of censor

Word Origin for censor