bowdlerism n censorship in the form of prudish expurgation Usage(s) Yet he assumes that the source emotion of bowdlerism is still very much with us: "Delicacy has never died," he says, "and never will. To carry cholera, water supplies must be contaminated by human fecal matter, or, if you prefer another bowdlerism, human excrement. Synonym(s) Bowdlerism