bowdlerize

American  

[bohd-luh-rahyz, boud-] / ˈboʊd ləˌraɪz, ˈbaʊd- /

especially British, bowdlerise

verb (used with object)

bowdlerized, bowdlerizing

1. to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

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bowdlerize British  

/ ˈbaʊdləˌraɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to remove passages or words regarded as indecent from (a play, novel, etc); expurgate

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Other Word Forms

• bowdlerism
  noun
• bowdlerization
  noun
• bowdlerizer
  noun
• unbowdlerized
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of bowdlerize

1830–40; after Thomas Bowdler (1754–1825), English editor of an expurgated edition of Shakespeare

Explanation

To bowdlerize means to edit offensive parts out of something. If the hero in an R-rated movie adapted for TV exclaims, “Oh shoot fudge darn!” but his lips seem to be saying something else, that movie has been bowdlerized. The word bowdlerized comes from the name of Dr. T. Bowdler, who decided to publish an edition of Shakespeare without sexual references or double-entendres (which is when a word has two meanings, one of them cheeky). Mr. Bowdler thought he was performing a great service for humanity, but generally if we call something bowdlerized, we’re implying that it was edited in a prudish way.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bowdlerize bowdlerized bowdlerizing

Apparently, to bowdlerize Coco Chanel, elegance really has been refusal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2018

To bowdlerize Benjamin Franklin, in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and Arsenal finishing in the top four.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 26, 2017

The rush to bowdlerize  what Biden had said turned  a glancing tap of the bruise into a grinding fist.

From Slate ● May 9, 2012

Censorship is so repugnant to most moviemakers they would rather have Mondo Freudo shown in a kindergarten than let a censor bowdlerize Ulysses.

From Time Magazine Archive

This is called "expurgating" the book; but people who disapprove often call it to bowdlerize.

From Stories That Words Tell Us by O'Neill, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Speakman)

Folk singers have long bowdlerized troubling words in standards, dropping racial slurs or rewriting violent sagas to modernize their musical inheritance.

From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2020

Also, and not incidentally, the river is named for the tribe whose chief’s bowdlerized name became that of the city.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 2, 2020

But their similarities, which are marked, reflect a narrow, bowdlerized view of modern American history with which Robin Bissell, the writer and director of “The Best of Enemies,” is positioning the film.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 4, 2019

His crowd got the joke, though McCain had slightly bowdlerized the reference.

From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2014

In proof of her contentions Ouida disclosed the fact that the French versions of the trilogy, "The Child of Pleasure," "The Victim," and "The Triumph of Death," were bowdlerized.

From The Child of Pleasure by Harding, Georgina

But, as Samartzis admitted with a grin, bowdlerizing wind from the breeziest place in the world wasn’t very authentic.

From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2023

When Televisa tried bowdlerizing the footage with a pro-government spin, he destroyed the tape and resigned, effectively blacklisting himself.

From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 2015

All the candidates have taken what was once a very specific ideology and extracted their favorite parts, selectively interpreting the vision and generally bowdlerizing it.

From Washington Post ● May 15, 2015

Note that, in railing against the bowdlerizing of the film's language, Ebert censored himself.

From Time ● Apr. 4, 2011

But despite bowdlerizing content, my family has been entirely faithful about visiting.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen