judge

[juhj]

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

judged, judging 

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)

judged, judging 

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

/ 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

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of judge¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of judge¹

C14: from Old French jugier, from Latin jūdicāre to pass judgment, from jūdex a judge

Idioms and Phrases

• judgment
• sober as a judge

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

Some supervisors said they would prefer to let a judge decide.

From Los Angeles Times

The president’s agenda suffered several setbacks this week, as federal judges across the country ruled his administration had broken the law in various instances.

From Los Angeles Times

In June, a judge dismissed a lawsuit authors filed against Facebook parent company Meta, which also developed an AI assistant, alleging that the company stole their work to train its AI systems.

From Los Angeles Times

A five-year audit of California’s judicial watchdog agency found it failed to thoroughly probe allegations of misconduct and ignored patterns of wrongdoing by some judges.

From Los Angeles Times

A federal judge has rejected Newsmax’s lawsuit alleging Fox News violated U.S. antitrust laws by squeezing out rival conservative news networks.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• appreciate 
• assess 
• conclude 
• consider 
• criticize 
• decide 
• derive 
• determine 
• discern 
• distinguish 
• draw 
• evaluate 
• examine 
• find 
• put 
• resolve 
• review 
• try