judge

American  

[juhj] / dʒʌdʒ /

noun

• judges
  plural

1. a public officer authorized to hear and decide cases in a court of law; a magistrate charged with the administration of justice.

   Synonyms:

   justice

2. a person appointed to decide in any competition, contest, or matter at issue; authorized arbiter.

   the judges of a beauty contest.

   Synonyms:

   arbitrator

3. a person qualified to pass a critical judgment.

   a good judge of horses.

   Synonyms:

   critic, connoisseur

4. an administrative head of Israel in the period between the death of Joshua and the accession to the throne by Saul.

5. (especially in rural areas) a county official with supervisory duties, often employed part-time or on an honorary basis.

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verb (used with object)

• judges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• judged,
  past participle,  past
• judging
  present participle

1. to pass legal judgment on; pass sentence on (a person).

   The court judged him guilty.

2. to hear evidence or legal arguments in (a case) in order to pass judgment; adjudicate; try.

   The Supreme Court is judging that case.

3. to form a judgment or opinion of; decide upon critically.

   You can't judge a book by its cover.

4. to decide or settle authoritatively; adjudge.

   The censor judged the book obscene and forbade its sale.

5. to infer, think, or hold as an opinion; conclude about or assess.

   He judged her to be correct.

   Synonyms:

   regard, consider, conceive

6. to make a careful guess about; estimate.

   We judged the distance to be about four miles.

7. (of the ancient Hebrew judges) to govern.

verb (used without object)

• judges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• judged,
  past participle,  past
• judging
  present participle

1. to act as a judge; pass judgment.

   No one would judge between us.

   Synonyms:

   adjudicate, adjudge

2. to form an opinion or estimate.

   I have heard the evidence and will judge accordingly.

3. to make a mental judgment.

judge British  

/ dʒʌdʒ /

noun

1. a public official with authority to hear cases in a court of law and pronounce judgment upon them Compare magistrate justice justice

2. a person who is appointed to determine the result of contests or competitions

3. a person qualified to comment critically

   a good judge of antiques

4. a leader of the peoples of Israel from Joshua's death to the accession of Saul

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verb

1. to hear and decide upon (a case at law)

2. (tr) to pass judgment on; sentence

3. (when tr, may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to decide or deem (something) after inquiry or deliberation

4. to determine the result of (a contest or competition)

5. to appraise (something) critically

6. (tr; takes a clause as object) to believe (something) to be the case; suspect

judge Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing judge

• judgment
• sober as a judge

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Synonym Usage

Judge, referee, umpire refer to one who is entrusted with decisions affecting others. Judge, in its legal and other uses, implies particularly that one has qualifications and authority for giving decisions in matters at issue: a judge appointed to the Supreme Court; a judge in the pie competition. A referee usually examines and reports on the merits of a case as an aid to a court. An umpire gives the final ruling when arbitrators of a case disagree.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• judger
  noun
• judgeship
  noun
• subjudge
  noun
• subjudgeship
  noun
• underjudge
  noun
• rejudge
  verb
• underjudge
  verb (used with object)
• judgeable
  adjective
• judgeless
  adjective
• judgelike
  adjective
• unjudgeable
  adjective
• unjudged
  adjective
• unjudgelike
  adjective
• well-judged
  adjective
• judgingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• judges
  plural

Participles

• judging
  present
• judged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• judge
  simple
• judges
  simple
• have judged
  perfect
• has judged
  perfect
• am judging
  progressive
• are judging
  progressive
• is judging
  progressive
• have been judging
  perfect progressive
• has been judging
  perfect progressive

Past

• judged
  simple
• had judged
  perfect
• was judging
  progressive
• were judging
  progressive
• had been judging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will judge
  simple
• will have judged
  perfect
• will be judging
  progressive
• will have been judging
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of judge

First recorded in 1175–1225; (verb) Middle English jugen, from Anglo-French juger, Old French jugier, from Latin jūdicāre “to judge,” equivalent to jūdic- (stem of jūdex ) “a judge” + -āre infinitive suffix; (noun) Middle English juge, from Old French, from Latin jūdicem, accusative of jūdex

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Explanation

To judge is to form your own opinion. The critics didn't think much of the movie, but you decided to judge for yourself. Now you can't get your money back. A person who judges, especially for a living, is known as a judge. To this day, you believe the judges cheated you out of the gold medal for figure skating because they didn't like your outfit. If you're wearing handcuffs and a police officer says, “Tell it to the judge,” that's the one in the black robes, not the one that holds up scorecards. Hopefully, this judge will like your outfit.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

judge judges judged judging

The newly unsealed charges came shortly after a judge ruled Monday that Comey’s daughter Maurene was illegally fired from her job of nearly a decade at the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

But the judge also noted Brown's guilty plea, compliance of bail conditions, and the impact a custodial sentence would have on Brown's children, and said the singer's "risk of further offending is low".

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

Writing this column over the years has taught me not to judge, but to try to understand.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

The Grammy-winning R&B star, 37, appeared Monday at Southwark Crown Court, where a judge handed down an eight-month sentence, suspended for a year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

“Lord Fredrick’s grandfather was a judge, too, you know.”

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

But Smith edged it, with two judges scoring the contest 115-113 in his favour and the third awarding it 116-112 to Dominican fighter Puello.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

A panel of judges, following the law, refused to allow Habba to serve in an interim capacity, forcing Trump to withdraw her name from consideration for the job, designating her acting U.S. attorney instead.

From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026

The Supreme Court is considering how judges around the country handle criminal sentencing, and there is one justice who is particularly well equipped to hear this case: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2026

In most instances, judges have said school officials may use “race-neutral” policies to achieve racial diversity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

When the judges reach their table, they spend several minutes chewing and nodding.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Respondents said they lied to their friends about money, were judged on their financial situations, and felt pressure to keep up with the spending habits of those closest to them.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2026

Entries were judged on clarity, authenticity and how well they represented the Boston Logan “vibe,” among other criteria.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

I've always judged leaders by people who follow them when things are going wrong.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

Growing up in central Argentina, Torres always felt judged and bullied for being different; she’s spent the last 20 years in Alicante, Spain, where she says she finally feels free to explore her bisexuality.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

The horde circled northwards through the meadowlands until Cluny judged they were far enough from Redwall to escape detection.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

The stock is poised to rally 30% or more, judging by its bullish technical indicators.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

Instead of judging older adults primarily by abilities that tend to weaken with age, the researchers encourage greater recognition of the capabilities that may become especially valuable later in life.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026

Assessing them is merely judging a lying contest.

From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2026

The mayor won the debate, if we’re judging by forensics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

An official carried the fish to the judging tent, then a minute after that, a bell rang.

From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn

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Related Words

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