Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism.
  • noun An official rebuke, as by a legislature of one of its members.
  • transitive verb To express strong disapproval of or criticize severely, especially in an official capacity: synonym: criticize.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Judgment; opinion.
  • noun Judicial sentence; formal condemnation.
  • noun Eccles., a penalty imposed upon an offender.
  • noun The act of criticizing, especially of finding fault; criticism; expression of blame or disapprobation; faultfinding; condemnation; animadversion.
  • noun A custom which formerly prevailed in several manors in Cornwall and Devonshire, England, by which all the inhabitants above the age of sixteen were summoned to swear fealty to the lord of the manor, to pay eleven pence per poll, and a penny a year ever after as censemoney or common fine. The persons thus sworn were called censers.
  • noun Synonyms Admonition, Monition, etc. (see admonition), stricture, reprobation, disapproval, reflection, dispraise, reproval.
  • To estimate; reckon; regard; consider.
  • To judge; adjudge; pass judgment on; sentence.
  • Eccles., to discipline by public rebuke, etc. See censure, n., 3.
  • To criticize, especially adversely; find fault with and condemn; blame; express disapprobation of: as, to censure a man, or his manners or conduct; to censure a book.
  • Synonyms Reprove, Rebuke, Reprimand, Censure, Remonstrate with, Expostulate with, Reproach, chide, reprehend, take to task, rate, berate, scold, upbraid, lecture. To reprove is to admonish with disapprobation. To rebuke is to reprove strongly or sharply. To reprimand is to reprove officially; it is the act of one having authority. To censure is to express an unfavorable opinion; it is less personal than the previous terms. Remonstrate with and expostulate with are more argumentative and imply more of advice than either reprove or censure; they also apply only to acts now taking place or about to take place, while censure applies only to what is past. To reproach a person is to lay blame upon him in direct address, and with feeling, to endeavor to shame him with what he has done. The words advance in the degree of likelihood that the person reproved, etc., does not admit the fault for which he is taken to task. See the distinction of corresponding nouns under admonition.
  • To pass an opinion, especially a severe opinion; judge: followed by of or on.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Judgment either favorable or unfavorable; opinion.
  • noun The act of blaming or finding fault with and condemning as wrong; reprehension; blame.
  • noun Judicial or ecclesiastical sentence or reprimand; condemnatory judgment.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To form or express a judgment in regard to; to estimate; to judge.
  • intransitive verb To find fault with and condemn as wrong; to blame; to express disapprobation of.
  • intransitive verb To condemn or reprimand by a judicial or ecclesiastical sentence.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To judge.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The act of blaming, criticizing, or condemning as wrong; reprehension.
  • noun An official reprimand.
  • noun The state of excommunication.
  • verb to criticize harshly
  • verb to formally rebuke

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the state of being excommunicated
  • noun harsh criticism or disapproval
  • verb rebuke formally

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Latin cēnsūra, censorship, from cēnsor, Roman censor; see censor.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1350–1400 Middle English, from Old French, from Latin censūra ("censor's office or assessment"), from censere ("to tax, assess, value, judge, consider, etc.").

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Examples

  • Illustrations: A resolution of censure may be amended by striking out the word “censure” and inserting the word “thanks, ” for both relate to opinion of certain conduct; refusing to censure is not the same as expressing thanks.

    5. Subsidiary Motions. 33. To Amend Henry Martyn 1915

  • In this way, from the beginning of the thirteenth century, although not expressly so stated in the decretals, the term censure became the equivalent of a certain class of ecclesiastical penalties, i.e., interdict, suspension, and excommunication.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 3: Brownson-Clairvaux 1840-1916 1913

  • Much of the censure is coming from an "infrastructure ü ber alles" crowd that too readily ignores that the costs of these big projects are often grossly underestimated and their benefits significantly exaggerated.

    Christie Is Right About the Hudson River Big Dig Steve Malanga 2010

  • Violation of that license board may result in censure or reprimand or license revocation.

    Think Progress » GOP Rep. John Fleming On Doctor Saying He Will Refuse Care To Obama Voters: ‘I Applaud What He Said And Did’ 2010

  • Violation of that license board may result in censure or reprimand or license revocation.

    Think Progress » GOP Rep. John Fleming On Doctor Saying He Will Refuse Care To Obama Voters: ‘I Applaud What He Said And Did’ 2010

  • The kid probably deserves First prize, but, by daring to attack the field of Goebbels Warming, probably managed to get a unique censure from the prize committee typically reserved for Science Fair projects that attempt to justify Eugenics or Lysenkoism — and totally unlike that kid who did a baking soda volcano and still got a “blue ribbon” … everyone gets an award these days, you know … unless their project is clearly unPC.

    Coyote Blog » Blog Archive » Awesome Analysis of Urban Biases on Surface Temperature Records 2009

  • I cannot see a way out of this mess for Israel; if they clampdown they will face even more censure from the world "community", if they give way to Palestinian demands then Israel will not exist in another 20 years.

    Archive 2008-09-01 Not a sheep 2008

  • Nevertheless, papal approval or censure is invoked several times in the sources on the Children's Crusade, often in very different, contradictory ways. back

    A Tender Age: Cultural Anxieties over the Child in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries 2005

  • Earlier this year PBS distributed to its affiliates only the expurgated version of A Company of Soldiers, a Frontline documentary about American forces in Iraq, because of concerns that obscenities shouted by military personnel during an ambush might bring censure from the FCC; it released the unbleeped version only to those local stations willing to sign waivers absolving PBS of liability for any fines.

    Fatwa City 2005

  • Earlier this year PBS distributed to its affiliates only the expurgated version of A Company of Soldiers, a Frontline documentary about American forces in Iraq, because of concerns that obscenities shouted by military personnel during an ambush might bring censure from the FCC; it released the unbleeped version only to those local stations willing to sign waivers absolving PBS of liability for any fines.

    Fatwa City 2005

Comments

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  • verb: to express strong disapproval

    After being caught in bed with a mistress, the mayor was quickly censured by the city council.

    October 11, 2016