Synonyms of blue-pencil

blue-pencil

verb

ˈblü-ˈpen(t)-səl 

as in to delete

to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it

military censors blue-penciled any remarks that could possibly be deemed critical

Synonyms & Similar Words

• delete
• cancel
• remove
• erase
• censor
• cross (out)
• scratch (out)
• stroke (out)
• x (out)
• strike (out)
• elide
• edit (out)
• kill
• obliterate
• dele
• efface
• eradicate
• expunge
• excise
• wipe out
• blot out
• suppress
• clip
• shorten
• red-pencil
• expurgate
• root (out)
• abbreviate
• bowdlerize
• launder
• clean (up)
• rub out
• cut
• redact
• silence
• crop
• repress
• blip
• bleep
• black out

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of blue-pencil

Before getting sunk by a turgid love story — the kind of cinematic dead zone Thalberg would have blue-penciled in the screenplay stage — The Last Tycoon provides a good sense of what a producer actually does. —Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2025