judge

noun

\ ˈjəj

Definition of judge

(Entry 1 of 2)

: one who makes judgments: such as

a : a public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court

b : one appointed to decide in a contest or competition : umpire

c : one who gives an authoritative opinion

d : critic

e often capitalized : a tribal hero exercising leadership among the Hebrews after the death of Joshua

judge

verb

judged; judging

Definition of judge (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to form an opinion about through careful weighing of evidence and testing of premises

2 : to form an estimate or evaluation of trying to judge the amount of time required especially : to form a negative opinion about shouldn't judge him because of his accent

3 : to hold as an opinion : guess, think I judge she knew what she was doing

4 : to sit in judgment on : try judge a case

5 : to determine or pronounce after inquiry and deliberation They judged him guilty.

6 : govern, rule —used of a Hebrew tribal leader

intransitive verb

1 : to form an opinion

2 : to decide as a judge

Other Words from judge Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about judge

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Choose the Right Synonym for judge

Verb

infer, deduce, conclude, judge, gather mean to arrive at a mental conclusion. infer implies arriving at a conclusion by reasoning from evidence; if the evidence is slight, the term comes close to surmise. from that remark, I inferred that they knew each other deduce often adds to infer the special implication of drawing a particular inference from a generalization. denied we could deduce anything important from human mortality conclude implies arriving at a necessary inference at the end of a chain of reasoning. concluded that only the accused could be guilty judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based. judge people by their actions gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications. gathered their desire to be alone without a word

Examples of judge in a Sentence

Noun

She's one of the strictest judges in the state. He served as a judge at the baking contest. “I don't think we should trust her.” “Let me be the judge of that.” She is a good judge of character.

Verb

You should not judge people by their appearance. He was trying to judge the strength of his opponent. We should do whatever we judge to be the right thing. Who are you to judge me? He feels that they have judged him unfairly. Don't judge her too severely. The jury will be asked to judge the defendant's guilt. If you are accused of a crime you have the right to be judged by a jury of your peers.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Bail is the exception more than the rule, and judges are less likely to grant bail to those who fight the charges. — Washington Post, "Why Ghosn’s Back in Jail and What It Says About Japan," 18 Sep. 2019 Last month a Charlottesville judge gave the fourth of Harris’s six assailants a sentence that amounts to more than two years. — Ian Shapira, Anchorage Daily News, "The parking garage beating lasted 10 seconds. DeAndre Harris still lives with the damage.," 17 Sep. 2019 The festivities will reunite judges Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich, and Aaron Sanchez with former winners including season 9’s Gerron Hurt, season 8’s Dino Angelo Luciano, season 7’s Shaun O’Neale, and season 1’s Whitney Miller. — Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, "First look: MasterChef celebrates 200th episode with season 10 finale party," 17 Sep. 2019 Assistant state attorney Michael Horowitz requested a higher bond of $250,000 if Malik were allowed to leave South Florida, but Broward Judge Jackie Powell decided a full bond reduction hearing should be held before another judge. — Wayne K. Roustan, sun-sentinel.com, "Mom accused of speeding at more than 90 mph in crash that killed her son, 5," 17 Sep. 2019 The suit is similar to one playing out in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where judges ruled a man could challenge gun ordinances in court. — cleveland.com, "UAW, GM resume talks amid nationwide auto worker strike: The Flyover," 17 Sep. 2019 The new also statute calls for a sentence of life in prison with a minimum of 30 years for murder convictions unless a judge determines the defendant should serve true life. — oregonlive, "Death penalty bill’s lead backer presses ahead with efforts to ‘fix’ it in possible special session," 16 Sep. 2019 The result is that prosecutors, rather than judges or juries, decide whom to punish and how severely. — Andrew Cockburn, Harper's magazine, "Power of Attorney," 16 Sep. 2019 Since he was first brought before a New York judge, hearings in Tyurin’s case have been repeatedly canceled, and previous court filings have said prosecutors and defense lawyers were engaged in plea negotiations. — Christian Berthelsen, Fortune, "Russian Hacker Will Plead Guilty for Role in JPMorgan Cyber-Attack," 16 Sep. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The deadline for photo contest submission is Friday, Sept. 20, to allow for time to judge winning photos as they will be announced at the luncheon. — Staff Report, Houston Chronicle, "Park Conservancy hosts photo contest," 16 Sep. 2019 The acting is hard to judge because everyone is playing stock characters and there are very few moments of grace to play for anyone (a beautiful exception is when one of the Statler and Waldorff duo runs outside to go check on the other). — Boyd Van Hoeij, The Hollywood Reporter, "'All This Victory' ('Jeedar El Sot'): Film Review | Venice 2019," 15 Sep. 2019 Vision can become blurry and depth and distance may become more difficult to judge. — Healthy Aging Leadership Team, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, "Health Dept.: Falls leading cause of injuries for older Americans, but not inevitable," 13 Sep. 2019 The undergraduates were asked to judge, on looks alone, which executives had qualities such as competence and dominance. — The Economist, "The eyes have it," 12 Sep. 2019 Items for the exhibits, to be judged, need to be dropped off Thursday, Sept. 12, between 5 and 7 p.m. Forms are available by email to save time filling them out Thursday. — courant.com, "Community News For The East Hartford Edition," 4 Sep. 2019 YouTube has its own extensive guidelines, and each of the companies maintains large offices of people paid to judge pieces of content that are reported for violations. — NBC News, "Why Republicans (and even a couple of Democrats) want to throw out tech's favorite law," 2 Sep. 2019 But judging by some of the presents Jenner has been receiving, the day is about to get a billion times better. — Amy Mackelden, Harper's BAZAAR, "Kylie Jenner's Birthday Gift from Travis Scott Is a Lavish Diamond Necklace," 10 Aug. 2019 As evidenced by Bonds’ rising totals in the Hall of Fame vote, the ball writers now are less apt to judge harshly Bonds’ suspected PED use. — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Doc's Morning Line: 12 years later, how do we feel about Barry Bonds' home run legacy?," 7 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'judge.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for judge

Noun

Middle English juge, from Anglo-French, from Latin judex — see judge entry 2

Verb

Middle English juggen, from Anglo-French juger, from Latin judicare, from judic-, judex judge, from jus right, law + dicere to decide, say — more at just, diction

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Dictionary Entries near judge

judge advocate general

judge delegate

Statistics for judge

Last Updated

18 Oct 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for judge

The first known use of judge was in the 13th century

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More Definitions for judge

judge

noun

English Language Learners Definition of judge

(Entry 1 of 2)

law : a person who has the power to make decisions on cases brought before a court of law

: a person who decides the winner in a contest or competition

: a person who makes a decision or judgment

judge

verb

English Language Learners Definition of judge (Entry 2 of 2)

: to form an opinion about (something or someone) after careful thought

: to regard (someone) as either good or bad

: to make an official decision about (a legal case)

See the full definition for judge in the English Language Learners Dictionary

judge

verb

\ ˈjəj

judged; judging

Kids Definition of judge

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : to form an opinion after careful consideration I judged the distance badly.

2 : to act with authority to reach a decision (as in a trial)

3 : think sense 1 What do you judge is the best solution?

4 : to form an opinion of in comparison with others She judged pies at the fair.

judge

noun

Kids Definition of judge (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : a public official whose duty is to decide questions brought before a court

2 : a person appointed to decide in a contest or competition

3 : a person with the experience to give a meaningful opinion : critic He's a good judge of talent.

judge

verb

\ ˈjəj

judged; judging

Legal Definition of judge

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to hear and decide (as a litigated question) in a court of justice judge a case

2 : to pronounce after inquiry and deliberation he was judged incompetent

intransitive verb

: to make a determination : decide judge between two accounts

judge

noun

Legal Definition of judge (Entry 2 of 2)

: a public official vested with the authority to hear, determine, and preside over legal matters brought in court also : one (as a justice of the peace) who performs one or more functions of such an official