Meanings
nounself-censorship (usually uncountable, plural self-censorships)
plural self-censorships
- uncountableusuallyThe act of censoring one's own work or what one says without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority, often for fear of sanctions.
The practice of self-censorship serves as a preemptive measure to avoid direct censorship or persecution when governments in autocratizing countries tighten their grip.
2026, “Unraveling The Democratic Era?”, in V-Dem Institute, archived from the original on 17 Mar 2026, page 13
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 自我審查 /自我审查
- 自我審查 /自我审查 (zìwǒ shěnchá)act of censoring one's own work
Czech autocenzura
- autocenzuraact of censoring one's own work
Dutch zelfcensuur
- zelfcensuuract of censoring one's own work
Estonian enesetsensuur
- enesetsensuuract of censoring one's own work
Finnish itsesensuuri
- itsesensuuriact of censoring one's own work
French auto-censure
- auto-censureact of censoring one's own work
German Selbstzensur
- Selbstzensuract of censoring one's own work
Hungarian öncenzúra
- öncenzúraact of censoring one's own work
Japanese 自己検閲, 自主規制
- 自己検閲 (jiko ken'etsu)act of censoring one's own work
- 自主規制 (jishu kisei)act of censoring one's own work
Polish autocenzura
- autocenzuraact of censoring one's own work
Russian самоцензу́ра
- самоцензу́ра (samocenzúra)act of censoring one's own work
Slovak autocenzúra
- autocenzúraact of censoring one's own work
Spanish autocensura
- autocensuraact of censoring one's own work
Swedish självcensur
- självcensuract of censoring one's own work
Ukrainian самоцензу́ра
- самоцензу́ра (samocenzúra)act of censoring one's own work
Cite this entry
APA
self-censorship. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-censorship
MLA
“self-censorship.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-censorship. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-censorship,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-censorship.
Source: self-censorship on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.