Synonyms of red-pencil

red-pencil

verb

ˈred-ˌpen(t)-səl 

1

as in to amend

to remove errors, defects, deficiencies, or deviations from

the magazine claims that every article is red-penciled by a team of fact checkers before it ever sees the light of print

Synonyms & Similar Words

• amend
• correct
• reform
• remedy
• rewrite
• change
• rectify
• improve
• debug
• right
• modify
• repair
• blue-pencil
• emend
• revise
• better
• adjust
• rework
• shorten
• perfect
• redress
• polish
• ameliorate
• redraft
• alter
• cut
• regulate
• fix
• touch up
• redraw
• modulate
• restyle
• mend

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hurt
• damage
• impair
• harm
• injure
• spoil
• mar
• aggravate
• worsen

2

as in to censor

to remove objectionable parts from

a television script that had been heavily red-penciled in abject surrender to political correctness

Synonyms & Similar Words

• censor
• shorten
• edit
• clean (up)
• review
• cut (out)
• delete
• launder
• expurgate
• bowdlerize
• blue-pencil
• purge
• examine
• cleanse
• suppress
• abbreviate
• purify
• gut
• expunge
• excise
• silence
• x (out)
• screen
• black out
• condemn
• repress
• scrutinize
• blip
• denounce
• bleep
• censure

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• approve
• authorize
• sanction

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of red-pencil

The book is a literary arrangement of sparring between D’Agata and Fingal, consisting of a draft of D’Agata’s text red-pencilled by editors and extensive correspondence between the two writers. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 21 Apr. 2026