bowdlerize
/ˈbaʊd.ləɹˌaɪz/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 0.00 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To remove or alter those parts of a text considered offensive, vulgar, or otherwise unseemly.
Transitive verb
verb
Alternative form of bowdlerize.
Example Sentences
- "The bowdlerized version of the novel, while free of vulgarity, was also free of flavor."
- "Mr. Stanley decided to treat that as irrelevant. "There ought to be a Censorship of Books.[…]" / Ogilvy pursued his own topic. "I'm inclined to think, Stanley, myself that as a matter of fact it was the expurgated Romeo and Juliet did the mischief. […] All they left it was the moon and stars. And the balcony and 'My Romeo!'" / "[William] Shakespeare is altogether different from the modern stuff. Altogether different. I'm not discussing Shakespeare. I don't want to Bowdlerize Shakespeare.[…]""
- ""Wadley sent a message: 'The President of the Zoological Institute presents his compliments to Professor Challenger, and would take it as a personal favor if he would do them the honour to come to their next meeting.' The answer was unprintable." "You don't say?" "Well, a bowdlerized version of it would run: 'Professor Challenger presents his compliments to the President of the Zoological Institute, and would take it as a personal favour if he would go to the devil.'""
- "His critics take alarm only when it becomes apparent that he would bowdlerize Homer and exclude from his state the great tragedians."
- "Let me tell you about Madicken. (Mardie in English. Or Meg, but that’s in the American translation and that’s bowdlerized and you should never read it.)"
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.”
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbaʊd.ləɹˌaɪz/
- British English: /ˈbaʊd.ləˌɹaɪz/