Comstockery

American  

[kuhm-stok-uh-ree, kom-] / ˈkʌm stɒk ə ri, ˈkɒm- /

noun

1. overzealous moral censorship of the fine arts and literature, often mistaking outspokenly honest works for salacious ones.

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comstockery British  

/ ˈkʌmˌstɒkərɪ, ˈkɒm- /

noun

1. immoderate censorship on grounds of immorality

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Other Word Forms

• Comstocker noun
• Comstockian adjective

Etymology

Origin of Comstockery

First recorded in 1895–1900; after A. Comstock ( def. ) + -ery

Example Sentences

“Comstockery is the world’s standing joke at the expense of the United States,” Shaw commented.

From Los Angeles Times

“Comstockery has been given a new lease on life by this Congress,” Ms. Schroeder, who died in March, mourned at the time in a floor speech.

From New York Times

George Bernard Shaw said America was suffering from “Comstockery.”

From Scientific American

In 1905, George Bernard Shaw, the playwright, referred to censorship-happy moralism as “Comstockery” in a letter to The New York Times.

From New York Times

Yet while chiding extreme libertarianism, Selbourne veers dangerously close to Comstockery in his tsk-tsking of noise that “masquerades as music,” gender fluidity, sperm banks, bad grammar, video plagiarists and other presumed vices.

From New York Times