prejudge
Americanverb (used with object)
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prejudges,
present (3rd person singular)
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prejudged,
past participle, past
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prejudging
present participle
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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:
The two-year yield was initially stable before falling sharply during Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh’s press conference, who insisted he would not prejudge a December rate decision.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
“I don’t prejudge meetings. I don’t believe in saying now what I might do at the meetings that we have in the balance of this year, but that was the situation.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
“I don’t prejudge meetings. I don’t believe in saying now what I might do at the meetings we have,” Warsh said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The Clacton MP said he spoke with him a "couple of weeks ago" and said: "I hope we can sort things out. I don't want to prejudge anything".
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026
“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
It must assume realities; but it prejudges nothing as to their constitution, and the most diverse metaphysics can use it as their foundation.
From Meaning of Truth by William James
As Justin Dillon writes nearby, Ms. James appears to have prejudged the evidence before she has seen it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
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
They won an initial victory when federal judge Gerhard A. Gesell ruled that Mr. Pertschuk “had conclusively prejudged factual items which will be disputed in the rulemaking proceedings.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 18, 2022
It would seem that the unpleasant case had long since been prejudged by the Germans.
From In the World War by Ottokar Theobald Otto Maria, Graf Czernin von und zu Chudenitz
I learned a lesson about prejudging and wrote instead about a mountain sign maker I had met on a previous drive through Appalachia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
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
I don't want to sound like I'm prejudging these birds, but they're not like peacocks where it is easy to tell them apart on sight.
From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2024
"I submit, Judge Slocum," said Eben Graham, who sat in a corner, his mean features looking meaner and more insignificant than usual, "I submit that you are prejudging the case."
From Do and Dare — a Brave Boy's Fight for Fortune by Horatio Alger
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