to sanitize
12
4.9
- verb
- /ˈsænɪˌtaɪz/
- US
:
edulcorar
- I'm so sick of Hollywood sanitizing our characters.
- sanitized version
- sanitized version of history
What it sought to do was to sanitize the toxic elements of certain male's behaviour.
- What it sought to do was to sanitize the toxic elements of certain male's behaviour.
- They just become part of you, and I don't think you should sanitize your Instagram.
- Well, you know, I would say that for me, once my father told me a kind of sanitized version of the family scandal.
- which says, let's sanitize the world so that we maximize that no one is ever hurt because we're kind and compassionate people.
Examples
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In an effort to appeal to a wider audience, filmmakers often choose to sanitize controversial themes in their movies.
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They want to sanitize the story!
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For those parents who feel they need to censor or sanitize the world for their kids.
Blog text (20) -
What it sought to do was to sanitize the toxic elements of certain male's behaviour.
-
Most people are unaware of anything beyond the highly sanitized version that passes through media filters.
Blog text (21) -
The textbooks minimized problems among groups and taught a sanitized version of history.
Academic text (1990) -
All substantive measures of change are sanitized, upon suggestion, to fit the political status quo.
Academic text (1992) -
The company decided to sanitize the report by removing inappropriate language and sensitive topics.
-
To make the content suitable for children, the publisher had to sanitize the stories by altering violent scenes.
Synonyms
514
5.2
To remove parts of books and films that are offensive or about politics
1
9.6
Change parts of a book, play or text to remove words people find offensive
1
9.9
Remove or change parts of a work because they may upset people
Antonyms
How Acceptable
Surface Forms
Morphology
sanitize = sanitary (semi-transparent) = sanit + ize
Morphologically regular (make + clean), but the meaning shifts metaphorically to 'make acceptable' or 'remove sensitive/offensive content', which is not a literal hygienic action and may not be directly inferable.
Etymology
The word sanitize comes from the Latin sanus, meaning 'healthy', and is the same idea behind sanity and sanitary — making things 'clean'. A helpful way to remember this meaning is to think of 'cleaning' a story or report, which is why to sanitize a text is to remove or change parts that might offend people.