bowdlerize
English
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bowdlerize¹
- /ˈbaʊd.ləˌɹaɪz/ UK
- /ˈbaʊd.ləɹˌaɪz/ US
Where it comes from
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.”
verb bowdlerizes · bowdlerizing · bowdlerized · Bowdlerize · bowdlerise
- To remove or alter those parts of a text considered offensive, vulgar, or otherwise unseemly. The bowdlerized version of the novel, while free of vulgarity, was also free of flavor.
Bowdlerize²
verb Bowdlerizes · Bowdlerizing · Bowdlerized
- Alternative form of bowdlerize
Translations
Talk about this word "bowdlerize." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bowdlerize. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. bowdlerize. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bowdlerize "bowdlerize." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bowdlerize.Cite this
@misc{bowdlerize_2026,
title = {bowdlerize},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bowdlerize},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
