adjudicate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
adjudicates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
adjudicated,
past participle, past
-
adjudicating
present participle
-
to pronounce or decree by judicial sentence.
-
to settle or determine (an issue or dispute) judicially.
-
to act as judge of (a contest).
verb (used without object)
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adjudicates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
adjudicated,
past participle, past
-
adjudicating
present participle
verb
-
to give a decision (on), esp a formal or binding one
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(intr) to act as an adjudicator
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(tr) chess to determine the likely result of (a game) by counting relative value of pieces, positional strength, etc
-
(intr) to serve as a judge or arbiter, as in a competition
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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adjudicationnoun
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adjudicatornoun
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readjudicateverb
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adjudicativeadjective
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adjudicatoryadjective
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nonadjudicativeadjective
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nonadjudicativelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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adjudicatesimple
-
adjudicatessimple
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have adjudicatedperfect
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has adjudicatedperfect
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am adjudicatingprogressive
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are adjudicatingprogressive
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is adjudicatingprogressive
-
have been adjudicatingperfect progressive
-
has been adjudicatingperfect progressive
Past
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adjudicatedsimple
-
had adjudicatedperfect
-
was adjudicatingprogressive
-
were adjudicatingprogressive
-
had been adjudicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of adjudicate
First recorded in 1690–1700; from Latin adjūdicātus (past participle of adjūdicāre ); see ad-, judge, -ate 1
Explanation
To adjudicate is to act like a judge. A judge might adjudicate a case in court, and you may have to adjudicate in the local talent show. Do you see a similarity between judge and adjudicate? When you add the common Latin prefix ad meaning "to" or "toward," you have a pretty good idea what the word means. But a judge isn't the only person who can adjudicate. If you're fighting with your little brother or sister and make them cry, your parents may adjudicate and send you to your room.
Vocabulary lists containing adjudicate
You Be the Judge: Jud, Jur, Jus
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Just Mercy
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Anything But Typical
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Jeffries clearly possesses a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings to adjudicate his criminal charges."
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
“How would it work? How would you adjudicate these cases?”
From Salon ● Apr. 1, 2026
Sony said Cox should have done more to punish alleged infringers, but the cable company isn’t a court of law and can’t adjudicate such disputes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
If the lien was entered incorrectly, you can file a motion to strike or adjudicate the lien in court.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 11, 2026
This enterprise required that certain social and technical preconditions be met: the existence of reliable methods of communication, a common body of expert knowledge and an acknowledged group of experts able to adjudicate disputes.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Finra, the industry’s self-policing group, adjudicates disputes among advisers, brokers, investors and institutions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
This week’s ruling, however, supports a November 2025 decision by the Faculty Hearing Committee, an independent board that investigates and adjudicates disputes involving faculty members.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Tax Court routinely adjudicates highly technical disputes between taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service, clarifying ambiguities in law and practice through published opinions.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2025
Anti-discrimination organisation Kick It Out forwarded the case to the FA and it was then considered by an FA national serious case panel, which adjudicates on disciplinary matters in grassroots football.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2024
It is here that the microscope, as the court of last appeal, adjudicates positively in the diagnosis between these two clearly marked divisions.
From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry
What happened next is already being fought over on the internet and soon will be adjudicated in court.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
Notably, it has not been adjudicated whether or not the FCC has crossed the line into jawboning.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
Two lower courts ruled that she could keep her job as her case is adjudicated.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
India's Supreme Court has threatened legal consequences after a judge was found to have adjudicated on a property dispute using fake judgements generated by artificial intelligence.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
Years later, when the tribe created its first court system, which adjudicated mostly minor crimes, he was elected one of the three judges.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
"But as the chief justice has said, all members of the court can do their jobs as they believe legally right, adjudicating cases without fear or favor."
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
A federal court in Texas may not stop a federal court in Rhode Island from adjudicating a case by issuing a glorified restraining order against the parties.
From Slate ● May 19, 2026
The days when dictators could live in gilded exile with fortunes in secret Swiss bank accounts are mostly over, primarily because of global mechanisms for adjudicating human-rights abuses and tracking ill-gotten gains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025
“Preventing me from adjudicating my case is ‘cruel and unusual punishment.’”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2025
The measure would replace the current system of adjudicating sexual assault by taking the cases outside a victim’s chain of command.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
