Carboxymethyl cellulose has been used for the design of novel engineered hydrogels in order to obtain effective three-dimensional structures for industrial applications. In this work, dye removal carboxymethyl cellulose-acrylamide-graphene oxide (CMC-AM-GO) hydrogels were prepared by a free-radical polymerization method. The GO was developed by the modified Hummers method. The CMC-AM-GO and GO were characterized by FTIR, XRD and SEM. The swelling and swelling kinetics were calculated using gravimetric process. The kinetic parameter, swelling exponent values [n = 0.59–0.7507] explained the fact that the CMC-AM-GO hydrogles have super Case II diffusion transport mechanism. CMCx-AM-GO (x = 1–4) and CMC-AM hydrogels were used for removal of Acid Blue-133. The result explains that composite hydrogels significantly removed the acid blue when compared to the neat hydrogel. The maximum AB absorption (185.45 mg/g) capacity was found in the case of CMC2-AM-GO hydrogel. Therefore, cellulose-based GO hydrogels can be termed as smart systems for the abstraction of dye in water purification applications.