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
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
But after a while, a backlash started brewing, one that felt wokeness was overly censorious and punitive of anyone who dared challenge identitarian political ideals.
—
John McDermott, Rolling Stone, 6 July 2025
Where all those other language models were censorious scolds that refused to answer legitimate questions, Grok, Musk promised, would give it to you straight.
—Kelsey Piper, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Why has this support diminished so dramatically? Shift from past generations
In the 1960s, college students led what was called the free speech movement, demanding the right to speak freely about political matters on campus, often clashing with older, more censorious generations.
—Jacob McHangama, The Conversation, 12 May 2025
On the right, this manifested itself as various forms of xenophobia and a wholesale mistrust of institutional figures; on the left, as much of what came to be called cancel culture and its censorious milieu.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for censorious
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John McDermott, Rolling Stone, 6 July 2025
Where all those other language models were censorious scolds that refused to answer legitimate questions, Grok, Musk promised, would give it to you straight.
—Kelsey Piper, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Why has this support diminished so dramatically? Shift from past generations
In the 1960s, college students led what was called the free speech movement, demanding the right to speak freely about political matters on campus, often clashing with older, more censorious generations.
—Jacob McHangama, The Conversation, 12 May 2025
On the right, this manifested itself as various forms of xenophobia and a wholesale mistrust of institutional figures; on the left, as much of what came to be called cancel culture and its censorious milieu.
—Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for censorious
Cite this Entry
“Censorious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/censorious. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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