Definition

1. Noun:
   • A person who edits a text by removing obscene, offensive, or otherwise objectionable words or passages: An expurgator is someone who revises a written work, typically to make it more suitable for a particular audience by censoring or purifying its content.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The Victorian editor acted as an expurgator, removing all references he deemed improper for family reading.
  • Thomas Bowdler is the most famous expurgator in literary history, giving his name to the term "bowdlerize."

Advanced Usage

• "To act as an expurgator": to perform the role of censoring or purifying a text.
  • The committee appointed her to act as an expurgator for the new school edition of the classic novels.

Variants and Related Words

• Expurgate (verb): to remove objectionable material from a text.
  • The publisher decided to expurgate the controversial chapter.
• Expurgation (noun): the act or process of expurgating.
  • The expurgation of the manuscript took several months.
• Bowdlerize (verb): to expurgate a text, often in a prudish manner (derived from Thomas Bowdler).
  • The film was heavily bowdlerized for television broadcast.

Synonyms

• Censor: An official who examines material and suppresses unacceptable parts.
• Purifier: One who removes impure or offensive elements.
• Editor (in a censorial sense): A person who prepares text for publication by making alterations, including deletions.

Related Phrases

• "To serve as an expurgator": to fulfill the function of removing objectionable content.
  • He was hired to serve as an expurgator for the religious publication.

Noun

1. a person who edits a text by removing obscene or offensive words or passages
   • Thomas Bowdler was a famous expurgator