censorious

adjective

cen·​so·​ri·​ous sen-ˈsȯr-ē-əs 

: marked by or given to censure (see censure entry 1 sense 2)

censorious comments

a censorious critic

censoriously adverb

censoriousness noun

Choose the Right Synonym for censorious

critical, hypercritical, faultfinding, captious, carping, censorious mean inclined to look for and point out faults and defects.

critical may also imply an effort to see a thing clearly and truly in order to judge it fairly.

a critical essay

hypercritical suggests a tendency to judge by unreasonably strict standards.

hypercritical disparagement of other people's work

faultfinding implies a querulous or exacting temperament.

a faultfinding reviewer

captious suggests a readiness to detect trivial faults or raise objections on trivial grounds.

a captious critic

carping implies an ill-natured or perverse picking of flaws.

a carping editorial

censorious implies a disposition to be severely critical and condemnatory.

the censorious tone of the review

Examples of censorious in a Sentence

The stunt earned her the scorn of her censorious older sister.

I was surprised by the censorious tone of the book review.

Recent Examples on the Web

Although Rufo is widely credited with inspiring a slew of censorious legislation, many saw the GOP’s lack of success during the 2022 midterms as an indictment of the electoral efficacy of his brand. —Yiyun Li, Harper's Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024

Here’s hoping the game will come with a patch at some point after its release to undo this censorious nonsense. —Ollie Barder, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024

Trigger warnings, disclaimers shown before a TV episode or film, alert viewers to the particular nature of graphic content to follow — often, violence and sexuality — but the push for trigger warnings is sometimes seen as censorious behavior. —Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 4 Sep. 2024

Conservative and free-speech libertarian pundits seem particularly wedded to the belief that campus ideologues pose a clear and present danger to impressionable young minds, sowing censorious armies of reactionary wokeists. —Hazlitt, 4 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin cēnsōrius "of a censor, severe," derivative of cēnsor censor entry 1

First Known Use

1536, in the meaning defined above