Definition of CENSORIOUSNESS

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

Still, to current and former staffers, the scrubbing of the Mouw and Graves-Fitzsimmons columns became an example of censorious overreach by an inexperienced publisher and an overzealous board. — Sarah Jones, The New Republic, "Inside the Spectacular Implosion of Religion News Service," 27 Apr. 2018 Perhaps the censorious tone is exaggerated by the translation from the German original, but I was left wondering whether Brunner actually likes birds, bird people, or even people in general. — Richard O. Prum, New York Times, "The Passion and Peril of Birding," 23 Jan. 2018 But as Xiomara wrestles to embrace her independence and nascent sexuality in the face of a censorious, extremely religious mother, The Poet X eventually reveals itself as a rhythmic literalization of a young woman finding her voice. — Constance Grady, Vox, "We read all 25 National Book Award finalists for 2018. Here’s what we thought.," 15 Nov. 2018 Andrea, by contrast, keeps her own feelings at arm’s length while permitting herself to slink around with him, out of view of her censorious and gossip-loving friends. — Christine Sneed, New York Times, "She’s Here, She’s Queer, She’s Figuring Out What That Means," 11 Apr. 2018 But other Protestant intellectuals broke with the censorious mind-set. — Linda Gordon, The New Republic, "How birth-control leaders found allies in American religious groups," 5 Apr. 2018 His entourage gathered around the book for a long moment, until Mr. Boyega wrinkled his nose and ran a censorious finger along the image of his untidy hairline. — Ben Widdicombe, New York Times, "How John Boyega Went From ‘Star Wars’ Stormtrooper to Sci-Fi Producer," 28 Feb. 2018 Last year, Ajit Pai, head of the Federal Communications Commission, cited the censorious nature of tech companies as a reason to revoke net neutrality. — Bloomberg.com, "Google Should Be Worried About This Possible Missouri Lawsuit," 8 Mar. 2018 ROME— Pope Francis chastised Vatican bureaucracy to its face on Thursday, bringing a censorious end to a year in which tensions between the pontiff and senior officials spilled out into the open. — Francis X. Rocca, WSJ, "Pope Decries ‘Cancer’ of Plotting and Pride in Vatican," 21 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'censorious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.