Meaning & use
censor
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person whose job is to examine books, films, letters or news and cut out or forbid anything that is judged unacceptable.
Grammar: Countable: the censor, the censors; often used for a government official.
Patterns
- the censor of something
- government censors
The film's director argued with the censor about two scenes.
Wartime censors read soldiers' letters before they were posted.
The censors banned the book for several decades.
verbtransitive
To cut out or hide parts of a book, film or message because someone in authority finds them unsuitable or dangerous.
Grammar: Takes an object: they censored the article.
Patterns
- censor something
- censor something from something
The state television station censored the interview.
The editor censored a few rude words before printing.
Websites in that country are heavily censored.
verbtransitivefigurative
To hold back or change what you say because you worry about how others will react.
Grammar: Often used with reflexive pronouns: censor yourself.
Patterns
- censor yourself
- censor your words
Employees often censor themselves in meetings with the boss.
I censored my reply so it would not upset my aunt.
Word forms
| plural | censors |
|---|---|
| third person singular | censors |
| past tense | censored |
| past participle | censored |
| -ing form | censoring |
Common combinations
- government censor
- A government censor removed the criticism from the report.
- censor the press
- The regime tried to censor the press during the protests.
- heavily censored
- The letters came back heavily censored.
- censor yourself
- Don't censor yourself when brainstorming ideas.
- pass the censors
- The film just managed to pass the censors.
Synonyms and how they differ
- suppress
- Suppress means to stop information from spreading by any means, while censor suggests an official cutting or banning of specific material.
- redact
- Redact is a formal word for blacking out parts of a document, usually for legal or security reasons.
- edit
- Edit is neutral and means to improve or shorten, whereas censor implies removal because someone disapproves.
- ban
- Ban means to forbid something altogether, whereas censor can mean just cutting parts.
Opposites
Word family
- censorship noun
- the practice of censoring
- censorious adjective
- very critical and quick to find fault
- uncensored adjective
- not cut or changed by a censor
- self-censorship noun
- holding back what you say out of caution
Commonly confused: censor or censure? censor or sensor?
censor vs censure
Censure means to criticize strongly and formally, while censor means to remove or ban material.
censor vs sensor
A sensor is a device that detects light, heat or movement and has nothing to do with banning content.
Practice
The government tried to ______ the news reports about the protest by deleting key passages.
Choose one answer.
To censor means to cut or ban material. Censure sounds similar but means to criticize formally, which does not describe deleting passages.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “censor”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.