prejudge
Americanverb (used with object)
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to judge beforehand.
-
to pass judgment on prematurely or without sufficient reflection or investigation.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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prejudgesimple
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prejudgessimple
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have prejudgedperfect
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has prejudgedperfect
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am prejudgingprogressive
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are prejudgingprogressive
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is prejudgingprogressive
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have been prejudgingperfect progressive
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has been prejudgingperfect progressive
Past
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prejudgedsimple
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had prejudgedperfect
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was prejudgingprogressive
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were prejudgingprogressive
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had been prejudgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of prejudge
1555–65; < French préjuger < Latin praejūdicāre. See pre-, judge
Explanation
To prejudge is to make a decision about something before you have all the facts. If you prejudge a game, you decide who’s going to win before it starts. Better hold off on the victory party until it’s over. When you judge someone or something, you "form an opinion or a conclusion" about it. Adding the "before" prefix pre- to that means you come to this conclusion before you should. If an actual judge in a court of law were to prejudge her cases, she'd make her decisions before hearing any evidence at all. When you prejudge, you count your chickens before they hatch.
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:
At the confirmation hearing last month, Warsh said he wouldn’t prejudge policy decisions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
Monday's step does not prejudge the outcome of the probe, the commission said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 9, 2026
“It makes no sense whatsoever to prejudge the election outcome. And that is a misinformed view of what is happening on the ground in North Carolina, bless his heart,” McHenry said.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2024
He told the BBC's Today programme that keeping the yards together was "sensible from an operating perspective" but he can’t prejudge what bidders will want.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2024
“You cannot prejudge people in this business,” he said over and over when we met, and each time he used that phrase, his face took on a look of utter conviction.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
As Jessica Fletcher, the mystery-writing amateur sleuth in “Murder, She Wrote,” Lansbury never prejudges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025
However, he added: "It does not restore UK access to EU, nor prejudges adoption of equivalence decisions."
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2023
This resolution in no manner prejudges the outcome of permanent status negotiations on east Jerusalem, which must, of course, reflect those historic ties and the realities on the ground.
From Time ● Dec. 28, 2016
On the face of it, the accord provocatively prejudges the outcome of the talks.
From Economist ● Nov. 13, 2014
This prejudges the whole question, and will deprive the Government of all power freely to consider these important questions.
From The Letters of Queen Victoria : A Selection from Her Majesty's Correspondence between the Years 1837 and 1861 Volume 3, 1854-1861 by Benson, Arthur Christopher
Judges are asked to recuse when their impartiality can reasonably be questioned because we don’t think it’s appropriate for judges to have prejudged a matter before them, and told us their views in advance.
From Slate ● May 29, 2024
“She has clearly prejudged the case,” August said.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
The judge noted that the woman indicated she had not prejudged the case, adding that "the mere fact of media coverage is not enough" to exclude her.
From Reuters ● Jul. 19, 2022
“He made his consideration without even a brief. He prejudged all of her arguments. This does not have the appearance of justice under the law.”
From Washington Post ● Sep. 22, 2021
But the organ had prejudged, and was not readily open to conviction.
From The Emigrant's Lost Son or, Life Alone in the Forest by Anonymous
But as chair, he has been adamant about not prejudging the outcome of the July rate-setting meeting.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026
A DUP spokesperson said O'Neill should await the outcome of an independent review "rather than prejudging that process".
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
"Force ourselves to reach out and find out why someone feels the way they do and make the choices they make without prejudging them a monster."
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2024
“Without prejudging the matter, this report is a cause for serious concern. Academic freedom does not permit the identity-based targeting of students.”
From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
Merely the pleasure and gratification of witnessing the speed of a fine horse, and the vanity of prejudging concerning it.
From Twenty-Two Years a Slave, and Forty Years a Freeman Embracing a Correspondence of Several Years, While President of Wilberforce Colony, London, Canada West by Steward, Austin
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.
