censorious

adjective

cen·​so·​ri·​ous sen-ˈsȯr-ē-əs 

: marked by or given to censure (see censure entry 1 sense 2)

censorious comments

a censorious critic

censoriously adverb

censoriousness noun

Choose the Right Synonym for censorious

critical, hypercritical, faultfinding, captious, carping, censorious mean inclined to look for and point out faults and defects.

critical may also imply an effort to see a thing clearly and truly in order to judge it fairly.

a critical essay

hypercritical suggests a tendency to judge by unreasonably strict standards.

hypercritical disparagement of other people's work

faultfinding implies a querulous or exacting temperament.

a faultfinding reviewer

captious suggests a readiness to detect trivial faults or raise objections on trivial grounds.

a captious critic

carping implies an ill-natured or perverse picking of flaws.

a carping editorial

censorious implies a disposition to be severely critical and condemnatory.

the censorious tone of the review

Examples of censorious in a Sentence

The stunt earned her the scorn of her censorious older sister.

I was surprised by the censorious tone of the book review.

Recent Examples on the Web

Platner also believes Democrats are seen as censorious and unforgiving of offensive language in a way that has not helped their party. —David Weigel, semafor.com, 21 Oct. 2025

For years we’ve been told that the censorious Left is a serious threat to free speech. —Maris Kreizman, Literary Hub, 9 Oct. 2025

Will these two problems—the Party’s censorious infrastructure and its general unwillingness to talk about Gaza—doom any Democratic free-speech campaigns? —Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2025

Well, that hellish censorious atmosphere didn’t last long. —Newsweek Contributors, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin cēnsōrius "of a censor, severe," derivative of cēnsor censor entry 1

First Known Use

1536, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for censorious

• jeremias
• zacharias
• dryas
• laius
• lyase
• mayas
• pious
• playas
• prius
• elias
• impious
• messias