autocensure

\o.to.sɑ̃.syʁ\

/\o.to.sɑ̃.syʁ\/ noun

The verdict

“autocensure” is uncommon French (frequency #53,788 among 424,905 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#53,788
frequency rank, French
424,905
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Censure que l’on s’applique à soi-même, par pudeur ou, préventivement, pour éviter la censure étatique ou autre.

Key facts for autocensure
PropertyValue
Headwordautocensure
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\o.to.sɑ̃.syʁ\
Letters11
Frequency rank#53,788
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “autocensure” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). autocensure lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

autocensure is uncommon French at frequency #53,788 among 424,905 “A” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \o.to.sɑ̃.syʁ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Censure que l’on s’applique à soi-même, par pudeur ou, préventivement, pour éviter la censure étatique ou autre.".

No misspelling variants are generated for autocensure in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is autocensure, spelled A-U-T-O-C-E-N-S-U-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Censure que l’on s’applique à soi-même, par pudeur ou, préventivement, pour éviter la censure étatique ou autre.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "autocensure"?
"autocensure" is spelled A-U-T-O-C-E-N-S-U-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is \o.to.sɑ̃.syʁ\.
What does "autocensure" mean?
As a noun, "autocensure" means: Censure que l’on s’applique à soi-même, par pudeur ou, préventivement, pour éviter la censure étatique ou autre.
How do you pronounce "autocensure"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "autocensure" is \o.to.sɑ̃.syʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "autocensure" come from?
"autocensure" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “autocensure”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is A-U-T-O-C-E-N-S-U-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \o.to.sɑ̃.syʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words

Other uncommon French words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list