Meaning & use
censure
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Meanings
noununcountableformal
Strong public disapproval, often expressed officially by a committee, court or other authority after someone has done something wrong.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: the board voted for censure; a formal vote may be called a vote of censure.
Patterns
- a vote of censure
- censure for something
- draw censure from someone
The senator faced official censure for misusing campaign money.
Her remarks drew widespread censure from teachers and parents alike.
The council passed a motion of censure against the mayor.
verbtransitiveformal
To condemn someone sharply and formally, especially in an official statement, for behavior judged to be wrong.
Grammar: Takes an object: the committee censured the doctor. Often followed by for plus the fault.
Patterns
- censure someone for something
- be censured by someone
The medical board censured the surgeon for ignoring safety rules.
Parliament voted to censure the minister over the leaked report.
The club censured two members for breaking its code of conduct.
Word forms
| third person singular | censures |
|---|---|
| past tense | censured |
| past participle | censured |
| -ing form | censuring |
| plural | censures |
Common combinations
- vote of censure
- The opposition tabled a vote of censure against the government.
- public censure
- The company escaped public censure after it apologized.
- draw censure
- His rude tweet drew censure from fans and sponsors.
- censure someone for something
- The league censured the coach for criticizing the referees.
- formally censure
- The Senate formally censured him in a close vote.
- escape censure
- Few managers could escape censure after such a failure.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reprimand
- A reprimand is usually a private or workplace rebuke from a superior, while censure suggests a weightier, often public judgment.
- condemn
- Condemn is broader and more emotional, and can come from anyone, whereas censure is typically measured and official.
- rebuke
- Rebuke describes a sharp spoken scolding in the moment, while censure is more formal and carries institutional weight.
- criticism
- Criticism is an everyday word that can be mild or friendly, but censure is always severe and disapproving.
Opposites
Word family
- censurable adjective
- deserving strong disapproval
- censured adjective
- having received formal disapproval
Commonly confused: censure or censor? censure or censer?
censure vs censor
To censor is to remove or ban material considered unacceptable, while to censure is to criticize someone for what they did.
censure vs censer
A censer is a container in which incense is burned in religious ceremonies; it has nothing to do with criticism.
Practice
The committee voted to ______ the chairman for hiding the financial losses.
Choose one answer.
Censure means to criticize formally for wrongdoing, which fits a committee punishing a chairman. Censor means to suppress material, which is a tempting but wrong choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “censure”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.