censorious
/sɛnˈsɔɹiəs/
"censorious" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“censorious” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Addicted to censure and scolding; apt to blame or condemn; severe in making remarks on others, or on their writings or manners.
Corpus desk
Index EN-censorious · censorious · English
censorious · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | censorious |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /sɛnˈsɔɹiəs/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “censorious” in English
Rare enough to double-check
censorious is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /sɛnˈsɔɹiəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for censorious, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin cēnsōrius (“of or pertaining to a censor; severe”). In sense 3 ("tending to engage in or support censorship"), reanalyzed as censor + -ious. The correct English form is censorious, spelled C-E-N-S-O-R-I-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Addicted to censure and scolding; apt to blame or condemn; severe in making remarks on others, or on their writings or manners.
- 2Implying or expressing censure.
- 3Tending to engage in or support censorship.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how censorious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Be not too rigidly Cenſorious, / A ſtring may jarr in the beſt Maſters hand, / And the moſt skilfull Archer miſs his aim; / But in a Poem elegantly writ, / I will not quarrel with a ſlight miſtake, / Such as our Natures frailty may excuſe; […]
[S]he remembered the Countess of Rotheles's advice, and she well knew the very pointed words and looks Lady Allerton could assume when it suited her humour to be censorious, and was well aware that every particular of the evening's entertainment would be transmitted with a jaundiced tint to Rotheles Castle for the amusement and animadversion of her invali…
Etymology
From Latin cēnsōrius (“of or pertaining to a censor; severe”). In sense 3 ("tending to engage in or support censorship"), reanalyzed as censor + -ious.
Antonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.