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View synonyms for censor

censor

[ sen-ser ]

noun

  1. 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.
  2. any person who supervises the manners or morality of others.
  3. an adverse critic; faultfinder.
  4. (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.
  5. (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)

  1. to examine and act upon as a censor.
  2. to delete (a word or passage of text) in one's capacity as a censor.

censor

/ ˈsɛnsə; sɛnˈsɔːrɪəl /

noun

  1. 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
  2. any person who controls or suppresses the behaviour of others, usually on moral grounds
  3. (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
  4. psychoanal the postulated factor responsible for regulating the translation of ideas and desires from the unconscious to the conscious mind See also superego
“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


verb

  1. to ban or cut portions of (a publication, film, letter, etc)
  2. to act as a censor of (behaviour, etc)
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈcensorable, adjective
  • censorial, adjective
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Other Words From

  • censor·a·ble adjective
  • cen·so·ri·al [sen-, sawr, -ee-, uh, l, -, sohr, -], cen·sori·an adjective
  • anti·cen·sori·al adjective
  • non·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 adjective
  • un·censored adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of censor1

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin cēnsor, from cēns(ēre) “to give as one's opinion, recommend, assess” + -tor -tor; -sor instead of expected -stor by analogy with tōnsor “barber,” and similarly derived nouns ( tonsorial )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of censor1

C16: from Latin, from cēnsēre to consider, assess
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Example Sentences

China resumed broadcasting the awards in 2003, though censors occasionally cut footage of politically sensitive figures or comments.

The film was approved by the censors, but mobs defaced public property, thrashed people, and threw Molotov cocktails.

By 1920 India had several regional censor boards, whose members were told to be watchful for “sensitive issues” and “forbidden scenes,” writes Someswar Bhowmik.

The absence of censorship allowed these services to tell a new kind of story—the story of India as it is, rather than one that was acceptable to the censor board.

Meanwhile, self-publishers have always had to tread carefully on what they post or risk being targeted by censors who deem them illegal or inappropriate.

The studio seemed to be satisfied with the results—although still opted to censor the death sequence in many foreign territories.

Still, was it possible that Russian authorities could censor the Internet and make Meduza inaccessible for Russian readers?

The attempts to censor news in Mainland China about the protests backfired.

Activists still have to reach the site on their own, escaping efforts to censor or monitor the internet in their home countries.

Should the company censor conversations around such gun photographs, banning talk of a sale or a price?

I do not care very much how you censor or select the reading and talking and thinking of the schoolboy or schoolgirl.

And that treatise of Van de Water, the Belgian, on the sublimation of the sub-conscious by the negation of the self-censor.

The Government Film Censor interprets his role chiefly as one of guiding parents.

It is not part of the censor's duty to see that his rulings are observed.

His very appointment as censor was due to the bottle-acquaintance that had sprung up with the regent Prince of Wales.

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