Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Showing results for bowdlerize. Search instead for bowdlerised.
Definitions

bowdlerize

[bohd-luh-rahyz, baud-] / ˈboʊd ləˌraɪz, ˈbaʊd- /
VERB
censor
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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

Nor do they wish to bowdlerize the bawdier passages reproduced in the script.

From Time Magazine Archive

I have no wish to bowdlerize Sir Richard Steele, his ways and words. 

From Essays by Alice Christiana Thompson Meynell

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

The book also expertly spoofs creative-class bullshit, bowdlerized theory filtered through millennial upspeak.

From The New Yorker ● May 21, 2019

These are not fantasy images — not bowdlerized, not even especially flattering — and they do not aim for the smiling “Say cheese” millisecond beloved by family photographers.

From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2016

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

From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2014

But such as held the New York stage in the past season were timorously constructed, bowdlerized by stage managers and, for the most part, poorly acted.

From The Onlooker, Volume 1, Part 2 by Alfred Henry Lewis

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

I also don’t think he was consciously bowdlerizing the song to make it more ‘‘appropriate’’ for me.

From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 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




Vocabulary lists containing bowdlerize


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training