bowdlerize
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.
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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
Censorship is so repugnant to most moviemakers they would rather have Mondo Freudo shown in a kindergarten than let a censor bowdlerize Ulysses.
From Time Magazine Archive
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She should not be allowed to disguise and bowdlerize it to suit the unwelcome tastes she had acquired at school.
From Joanna Godden by Sheila Kaye-Smith
In most of these entertainments, though, the animals primarily come across as people in cutesy, bowdlerized animal drag.
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2022
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
“It” offered a bowdlerized version of Jazz Age liberties—and Glyn herself turns up in the film to offer a sanitized definition of her own idea.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 3, 2016
His crowd got the joke, though McCain had slightly bowdlerized the reference.
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2014
In proof of her contentions Ouida disclosed the fact that the French versions of the trilogy, "The Child of Pleasure," "The Victim," and "The Triumph of Death," were bowdlerized.
From The Child of Pleasure by Georgina Harding
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
When Televisa tried bowdlerizing the footage with a pro-government spin, he destroyed the tape and resigned, effectively blacklisting himself.
From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 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
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