censurable
deserving blame or criticism
Roots
- -able / -ible: able to be, fit to be, or worthy of
- cens: assess, judge, value, or officially count
Other words with the cens root
- censor: official suppressor or examiner
- censorious: severely critical or fault-finding
- censure: strong criticism or official blame
- census: official count of a population
Cens carries judging or assessing. Censurable behavior is not just bad; it is blameworthy.
The shortcut was careless, but the committee had to decide whether it was truly censurable.
Censurable asks for judgment. The word is useful when ordinary disapproval is not precise enough.
A censurable act deserves blame after someone has weighed it, not just because it annoyed people. Keep the judge’s desk image: the conduct is being examined and found blameworthy.