This censorship vocabulary lesson will help you understand the words censorship, black out, blur out, grawlix, illicit, restriction, suppression, expletive and bowdlerise correctly.
(–) censorship uncountable noun removing parts of books, films, etc that are considered unsuitable for moral, religious, or political reasons
- Censorship in some countries is hypocritical.
(a) black out noun a situation in which journalists are stopped by the government from reporting news about something
- There was a news black out just before the war started.
(a) blur out noun when a photo is changed to hide a part of a person
- The blur out in some photos is easy to see.
(a) grawlix noun the symbols used to hide swear words in cartoons
- With a grawlix you can often guess what is being said.
illicit adjective not allowed by the law or rules
- His illicit behaviour has made him infamous.
(a) restriction noun a limit on something
- The restrictions placed on this film allow only those over 18 to watch it.
(–) suppression uncountable noun preventing something from being seen, heard or said
- The suppression of political debate happens in too many countries.
(an) expletive noun a word that people think is offensive
- The word duck is 75% an expletive.
bowdlerise verb to remove the parts of a book, film, or play that are likely to offend people, with the result that it becomes weaker or less effective
- To bowdlerise a book without anyone realising must take great skill.
Now watch the video lesson and then do the Censorship · exercise
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