censure
SEN-sherverbMeaning to criticize strongly and officially
Memory hook SEN-SURE: the council is SURE you were wrong. The whole council stands up and votes together: they are sure their member broke the rules. To censure is to blame someone officially.
The school board voted to censure the member who leaked the private report.
In context The league did not suspend the coach, but it did censure him in a public statement, calling his behavior toward the referee unacceptable.
Similar condemn, criticize, reprove, denounce
Opposite praise, commend, approve
From Latin censura, the office of a Roman censor, an official who judged citizens’ conduct, from censere, “to assess.”