bowdlerize

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate

Etymology

From Bowdler + -ize; named after English physician Thomas Bowdler (1754–1825). In 1818, he published a censored version of William Shakespeare (The Family Shakespeare), expurgating “those words and expressions […] which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family.”

In classic literature

Synonyms

bowdlerise, expurgate, castrate, shorten

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