censure

[sen-sher]

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noun

strong or vehement expression of disapproval: The newspapers were unanimous in their censure of the tax proposal.

an official reprimand, as by a legislative body of one of its members.

verb (used with object), cen·sured, cen·sur·ing.

to criticize or reproach in a harsh or vehement manner: She is more to be pitied than censured.

verb (used without object), cen·sured, cen·sur·ing.

to give censure, adverse criticism, disapproval, or blame.

Nearby words

Origin of censure

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin cēnsūra censor's office, assessment, equivalent to cēns(us) past participle of cēnsēre (see censor) + -ūra -ure

SYNONYMS FOR censure

1. condemnation, reproof, reproach, reprehension, rebuke, reprimand, stricture, animadversion. 3. reprove, rebuke, chide.

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ANTONYMS FOR censure

1–3. praise.

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Related forms

cen·sur·er, nouncen·sure·less, adjectivemis·cen·sure, verb, mis·cen·sured, mis·cen·sur·ing.pre·cen·sure, verb (used with object), pre·cen·sured, pre·cen·sur·ing.

pro·cen·sure, adjectivesu·per·cen·sure, nounun·cen·sured, adjectiveun·cen·sur·ing, adjective

Can be confusedblame censure condemn (see synonym study at blame)censer censor censure sensor

Synonym study

1. See abuse. 3. See blame, reprimand.

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

Examples from the Web for censured

In the end, he was censured by the House and stripped of his chairmanship.
Charlie Rangel on Immigration, Pope Francis & His Successor|David Freedlander|August 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Rangel, after having been censured by the House in late 2010 for a litany of abuses, survived reelection.
The Taxonomy of Scandals: Is Obama Nearing a Breaking Point?|Lloyd Green|May 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
But he also censured his fellow council members for not speaking out earlier.
Fearing Public Backlash, Israeli Settlers Speak Out Against Their Own|Dan Ephron|June 29, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Rangel was censured by the full House, the first time that's happened to a member in nearly 25 years.
Why the House Can’t Police Itself|Daniel Stone|July 22, 2011|DAILY BEAST

Charlie Rangel was censured for not paying taxes on his Dominican villa—but at least he made up to $500,000 on its sale.
How Rich Are They?|John Solomon|June 16, 2011|DAILY BEAST
As this moralizing did not fit in with the facts of his life he was censured for it, as shown above.
The Student's Companion to Latin Authors|George Middleton
For this unseemly haste the Virginia authorities have been censured.
John Brown, Soldier of Fortune|Hill Peebles Wilson
No wonder he was censured for the reckless sacrifice of his soldiers at Bunker Hill.
The Story of American History|Albert F. Blaisdell
On my conscience, I believe it has only made him worse; because he knew he never should be censured by such a pattern of meekness.
The Sylph, Volume I and II|Georgiana Cavendish
In general orders he censured the call and the address as irregular, and then appointed a time and place for the meeting.
George Washington, Vol. I|Henry Cabot Lodge

British Dictionary definitions for censured

censure

noun

severe disapproval; harsh criticism

verb

to criticize (someone or something) severely; condemn

Derived Formscensurer, noun

Word Origin for censure

C14: from Latin cēnsūra, 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 censured

censure

1580s, from censure (n.) or else from French censurer, from censure (n.). Related: Censured; censuring.

Such men are so watchful to censure, that the have seldom much care to look for favourable interpretations of ambiguities, to set the general tenor of life against single failures, or to know how soon any slip of inadvertency has been expiated by sorrow and retractation; but let fly their fulminations, without mercy or prudence, against slight offences or casual temerities, against crimes never committed, or immediately repented. [Johnson, "Life of Sir Thomas Browne," 1756]

censure

late 14c., originally ecclesiastical, from Latin censura "judgment, opinion," also "office of a censor," from census, past participle of censere "appraise, estimate, assess" (see censor (n.)). General sense of "a finding of fault and an expression of condemnation" is from c.1600.

censure

noun

verb (used with object), cen·sured, cen·sur·ing.

verb (used without object), cen·sured, cen·sur·ing.

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Origin of censure

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Examples from the Web for censured

censure

noun

verb

Word Origin for censure

censure

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