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
Ives managed to talk 20th Century-Fox out of tampering with The Blue-Tail Fly, though he did have to bowdlerize his other favorite, Foggy, Foggy Dew, an old Irish ballad.
From Time Magazine Archive
This is called "expurgating" the book; but people who disapprove often call it to bowdlerize.
From Stories That Words Tell Us by Elizabeth (Elizabeth Speakman) O'Neill
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 doctrine, as we all know, comes down — in its bowdlerized version — to not doing “stupid stuff.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2016
Huang yelled, frustrated that the show had bowdlerized his story, which included whippings by his father, an immigrant restaurant owner.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 2, 2015
Performing on network TV, Mr. Petersen served up an only somewhat bowdlerized version of his live show.
From New York Times ● Apr. 16, 2014
As unmarried girls took part in these performances, the French pieces had to be considerably "bowdlerized," but they still remained as excruciatingly funny as only French pieces can be.
From The Days Before Yesterday by Lord Frederick Spencer Hamilton
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
Vocabulary lists containing bowdlerize
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