judgmental

American  

[juhj-men-tl] / dʒʌdʒˈmɛn tl /

especially British, judgemental

adjective

1. involving the use or exercise of judgment.

2. tending to make quick and excessively critical judgments, especially moral ones.

   to avoid a judgmental approach in dealing with divorced couples.

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judgmental British  

/ dʒʌdʒˈmɛntəl /

adjective

1. of or denoting an attitude in which judgments about other people's conduct are made

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Other Word Forms

• judgmentally adverb
• unjudgmental adjective

Etymology

Origin of judgmental

First recorded in 1905–10; judgment + -al ¹

Explanation

Oddly enough, people with good judgment are not usually considered judgmental. Judgmental is a negative word to describe someone who often rushes to judgment without reason. The adjective judgmental describes someone who forms lots of opinions — usually harsh or critical ones — about lots of people. Judgmental types are not open-minded or easygoing. Judgmental has the word judge at its root, which itself is from the Latin word judicem, which also means "to judge." Judgemental (with an extra "e") is considered a legitimate variant spelling of judgmental.

Example Sentences

“It was just full of very proper people, but very judgmental, and there were secrets on the street,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 8, 2026

They were trying to avoid seeming judgmental, unenlightened or disloyal to a socially expected script.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

Democratic citizens need to develop the habit of listening imaginatively rather than in a competitive or judgmental way.

From Slate • Jan. 2, 2026

The wild speculation about the nature of their friendship is ironic when considering that both have built their careers by taking an intrusive, judgmental interest in dictating the personal lives of strangers.

From Salon • Nov. 10, 2025

I couldn’t believe how judgmental Papa was being.

From "The Red Umbrella" by Christina Gonzalez

Related Words

• subjective