What does redacted mean?
Redacted describes material that has been deliberately obscured, censored, or removed before publication or release. It is especially common in official documents, court records, investigations, news reports, and correspondence involving confidential or legally protected information. A redacted passage may be covered by black bars, replaced with symbols, deleted altogether, or withheld in a revised version. The verb redact is widely used in similar formal and journalistic contexts. Although redaction can serve transparency and privacy by hiding sensitive details, it can also suggest that information has been withheld from the public. The word derives from the Latin redactus, a past participle meaning “driven back” or “withdrawn,” reflecting the older practice of withdrawing a text from circulation. Today, redacted clearly communicates that material once present has intentionally been made unavailable.
Obscured, censored, or removed from a document, recording, or other publicly accessible material.
"The report contained extensive redacted passages that obscured the identities of witnesses."
Often used with text, documents, names, passages, copies, and versions in legal, governmental, journalistic, and publishing contexts.
To obscure, remove, or withhold sensitive or confidential information from a document, recording, or publication.
"Editors redacted personal details from the transcript before publishing it."
Redacted is the past tense and past participle of the transitive verb redact.
Redacted comes from Latin for “driven back”: a passage was literally withdrawn from public view before the modern sense of hiding it behind black bars developed.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does redacted come from?
The word comes from Latin redactus, the past participle of redigere, meaning “to drive back,” “withdraw,” or “cancel.” Redact entered English with this older sense of withdrawing or cancelling a document or portion of a text. Its modern sense of obscuring removed material developed as censorship and regulated publication became common.
Related word forms
How redacted is actually used
Redacted is common in legal, governmental, journalistic, and publishing contexts. It usually implies deliberate concealment for privacy, security, or legal reasons, although it may also refer to material removed for editorial or technical reasons.