censorious Hear it!

censorious Definition

cen·so·ri·ous (sen sôrē əs)

adjective

expressing censure; inclined to find fault; harshly critical

Etymology: L censorius < censere: see censor

censorious Related Forms
cen·so·ri·ously adverb cen·so·ri·ous·ness noun
censorious Synonyms

censorious

modif.

censorious Usage Examples

Modifying Another Word

  • not: The truth is that most ordinary people are not censorious about the sexual behavior of others considered purely in itself.
  • rather: And, of course, you are rather censorious.

Modifies a noun

  • prude: After all, in times of crisis the nation has always looked to censorious self-important half-witted prudes for guidance.
  • attitude: While recent behaviouristic psychology could not countenance such notions, a less censorious attitude is emerging.
  • tone: Putting on the censorious tones of an elder sister, she replied: " How utterly disgusting of you!
  • mind: The censorious mind works from the assumption that unpleasant things are better hidden away.
  • authority: Potter's satire on censorious authority may be ludicrously overstated.
  • control: They are just a bunch of censorious control freaks.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: We can become censorious, looking for faults in everyone else that doesn't look or sound like us.
censorious Quotes

The censorious said that she slept in a hammock and understood Yeats's poems, but her family denied both stories.

—Saki pseudonym of  Hector Hugh Munro

Browse dictionary entries near censorious

  1. censor
  2. censer
  3. cense
  4. Cenozoic
  5. cenote
  6. cenotaph
  7. cenospecies
  8. cenogenesis
  9. cenobite
  10. ceno-
  1. censorship
  2. censurable
  3. censure
  4. census
  5. cent
  6. cental
  7. centaur
  8. centaurea
  9. Centaurus
  10. centaury