bowdlerized

verb

Definition of bowdlerizednext
past tense of bowdlerize
as in censored
to remove objectionable parts from a bowdlerized version of "Gulliver's Travels" that purportedly makes it unobjectionable for children

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bowdlerized
  1. censored
  2. edited
  3. shortened
Verb
  • The film came out highly censored in 1971, and only recently had its most salacious bits recovered from the archives and restored to their fleshy glory.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026
  • But on the television broadcast that aired on Saturday, Antonia’s T-shirt had been censored, appearing to be all white.
    — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of censored
Verb
  • Embedded in the production of the show is the feeling of being trapped in a hall of mirrors; scenes are edited flagrantly, drowning the viewer in red herrings.
    — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Researchers showed respondents two versions of the same video, one edited by a human, one by AI, without telling them which was which, and asked for a blind preference before revealing anything about how either was made.
    — Muhammad Usman Qamar, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of edited
Verb
  • Those exclusive windows, sharply shortened during the pandemic, have gradually lengthened again, according to Octavio Alzola, programming and marketing director at arthouse cinema chain Cines Renoir.
    — Emiliano de Pablos, Variety, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Commercial Dungeness crab season has been delayed or shortened in the past few years in California.
    — Anne Ewbank, Sacbee.com, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of shortened
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

bowdlerize
bowdlerized
bowdlerizes
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bowdlerized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bowdlerized. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of quondam

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All