judgment call

American  

noun

1. Sports. an observational ruling by a referee or umpire that is necessarily subjective because of the disputable nature of the play in question, and one that may be appealed but not protested, as opposed to a matter of official rule interpretation.

   Balks and close plays at first are of course judgment calls, and umpires are human.

2. any subjective or debatable determination; personal opinion or interpretation.

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Etymology

Origin of judgment call

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

I made a judgment call based on information we obtained from the hotel, events I had witnessed in the days prior and the heightened overall security risk of our location.

From Los Angeles Times

Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem believes time is on his side about making a judgment call in response to higher energy prices.

From The Wall Street Journal

OTTAWA—Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem believes time is on his side about making a judgment call in response to higher energy prices.

From The Wall Street Journal

How long to keep going is a judgment call, but both U.S. and Israeli officials speak about weeks rather than months.

From The Wall Street Journal

She said she grew comfortable once she saw the results were based on hard data, not someone’s judgment call.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• attitude
• concept
• consideration
• feeling
• impression
• judgment
• mind
• notion
• opinion
• point of view
• sentiment
• thought