Censor or sensor?
censor is a noun meaning “One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens…”; sensor is a noun meaning “A device or organ that detects certain external stimuli and responds in a…”. They sound the same (/ˈsɛnsə/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) sensor is about 3.6 times as common as censor.
What is the difference between censor and sensor?
| censor | sensor | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun |
| Meaning | One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens, and by Classical times (between the 8th century B.C.E. and the 6th century C.E.)… A high-ranking official who was responsible for the supervision of subordinate government officials To review for, and if necessary to remove or suppress, content from books, films, correspondence, and other media which is regarded as objectionable (for… | A device or organ that detects certain external stimuli and responds in a distinctive manner |
| Example | The Ancient Roman censors were part of the cursus honorum, a series of public offices held during a political career, like consuls and… | The smoke sensor triggered the alarm |
| Forms | censors | sensors |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsɛnsə/ /ˈsɛnsɚ/ | /ˈsɛn.sə/ /ˈsɛn.sɚ/ |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words | 8.3 times per million words |
Sources: censor and sensor in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of censor and sensor
censor
- 1
One of the two magistrates who originally administered the census of citizens, and by Classical times (between the 8th century B.C.E. and the 6th century C.E.) was a high judge of public behaviour…
The Ancient Roman censors were part of the cursus honorum, a series of public offices held during a political career, like consuls and praetors
- 2
To review for, and if necessary to remove or suppress, content from books, films, correspondence, and other media which is regarded as objectionable (for example, obscene, likely to incite violence…
The people responsible for censoring films have seen some startling things in their time
- 3
A hypothetical subconscious agency which filters unacceptable thought before it reaches the conscious mind
- 4
A high-ranking official who was responsible for the supervision of subordinate government officials
- 5
To partially obscure an observation
Early dropout is one cause of right-censoring
- 6
An official responsible for the removal or suppression of objectionable material (for example, if obscene or likely to incite violence) or sensitive content in books, films, correspondence, and other…
The headmaster was an even stricter censor of his boarding pupils’ correspondence than the enemy censors had been of his own when the country was occupied
- 7
A college or university official whose duties vary depending on the institution
- 8
An algorithm that approves or rejects something on grounds of taste or morality etc
I tried using a dirty word as my user name for the online game, but the censor rejected it
sensor
- 1
A device or organ that detects certain external stimuli and responds in a distinctive manner
The smoke sensor triggered the alarm
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, censor or sensor?
censor appears 2.3 times per million words; sensor 8.3 times per million words.
censor 2.3 times per million wordssensor 8.3 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search censor vs sensor?
“censor vs sensor” is searched about 880 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“sensor vs censor”, “censor or sensor”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.