What does "censorship" mean?

The use of state or group power to control freedom of expression or press, such as passing laws to prevent undesirable media from being published or propagated.

Censorship

Q: What is a synonym for "censorship"?

Common synonyms include: censoring, abbreviation, abridgment, bamboo curtain, barrier of secrecy, blackout.

//ˈsɛnsəʃɪp// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
The use of state or group power to control freedom of expression or press, such as passing laws to prevent undesirable media from being published or propagated. countable, uncountable
"[…] such a curious thing — it is the only thing left of the old censorship of the press.""
2
deleting parts of publications or correspondence or theatrical performances wordnet
3
The role of the censor (magistrate) in Ancient Rome. countable, historical, uncountable
4
counterintelligence achieved by banning or deleting any information of value to the enemy wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

censoring abbreviation abridgment bamboo curtain barrier of secrecy blackout

Example

More examples

"Meanwhile, the PIRATE Party offers space on an internet server of their own to all CDU groups in Kassel that are affected by censorship by the party leaders."

Etymology

From censor + -ship.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.