judge 1 of 2

1
as in referee
a person who impartially decides or resolves a dispute or controversy their father always played the role of judge when there was a disagreement between the siblings

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in court
a public official having authority to decide questions of law the judge gave the defendant a suspended sentence

Synonyms & Similar Words

judge

2 of 2

verb

1
2
as in to estimate
to decide the size, amount, number, or distance of (something) without actual measurement considering the amount of dough we have, I judge we'll get about six dozen cookies out of it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Synonym Chooser

How is the word judge distinct from other similar verbs?

Some common synonyms of judge are conclude, deduce, gather, and infer. While all these words mean "to arrive at a mental conclusion," judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based.

judge people by their actions

When could conclude be used to replace judge?

The words conclude and judge are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, conclude implies arriving at a necessary inference at the end of a chain of reasoning.

concluded that only the accused could be guilty

How do deduce and infer relate to one another, in the sense of judge?

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

When is it sensible to use gather instead of judge?

In some situations, the words gather and judge are roughly equivalent. However, gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications.

gathered their desire to be alone without a word

When can infer be used instead of judge?

While the synonyms infer and judge are close in meaning, 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

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of judge
Noun
Saying that democracy needs judges and prosecutors to carry out the rule of law, Obama said that some recent actions by the federal government have pushed the limits of democracy. Christopher Keating Hartford Courant, Arkansas Online, 19 June 2025 Text messages between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift about the working environment on the set of It Ends With Us must be turned over to Justin Baldoni, a judge has ruled. Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 19 June 2025
Verb
Karen Read jurors sent 3 questions to judge as deliberations continue GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB Read's first trial ended in a hung jury last year after jurors went more than 25 hours over four days without reaching an agreement. Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2025 From the modeling world, Heidi Klum joined the judging panel in 2013, and Tyra Banks as host in 2017. Diane J. Cho, People.com, 17 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for judge
Recent Examples of Synonyms for judge
Noun
  • The players needed a referee and spotted the old man in the bleachers.
    Lee Habeeb, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 June 2025
  • That initial fight led every player on the ice to find a partner to duel with, and the referees simply let the brawl play itself out.
    Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 10 June 2025
Noun
  • The court’s six conservative justices voted to approve the law, while the three liberal justices dissented.
    Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 18 June 2025
  • But Trump’s lawyers argued that Congress did not intend for the president to only deploy the guard in the face of full-scale revolutions, the administrations argument, filed in court Monday, shows.
    Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 18 June 2025
Verb
  • Always, along the chain of hectic audience gossip, there was one person who decided to nip in the bud the talk about a too iconoclastic Beckett, and the relay to the estate was stopped; someone—more than one someone—who decided that Matthew and his crazy dreams were worth shielding.
    Han Ong, New Yorker, 22 June 2025
  • After a fun evening at the amusement park, the family decided to set Cade free.
    Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 22 June 2025
Verb
  • Army officials estimated the cost of the parade at between $25 million and $45 million, with a portion of funds earmarked for repairing city streets to accommodate heavy military equipment.
    Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 June 2025
  • The parade has been estimated to cost between $25 million to $45 million, The Army expected the parade to attract as many as 200,000 people.
    CBS News, CBS News, 15 June 2025
Verb
  • My obsession to understand this woman, so strange considering her ambitions and remarkable intelligence, is on every page.
    Literary Hub June 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025
  • The mission’s detailed investigation of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
    Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 June 2025
Verb
  • However, most thought that use of police and incarceration as avenues to do so was misguided.
    Katherine LeMasters, The Conversation, 13 June 2025
  • What anybody thinks about you is none of your business.
    Daniela Avila, People.com, 13 June 2025
Noun
  • Burns started Judge with a slider near the top of the zone that home plate umpire Mark Wegner called a ball, even though MLB’s GameDay showed the pitch easily inside the zone.
    C. Trent Rosecrans, New York Times, 24 June 2025
  • Schnall was ejected in the first inning after an argument with home plate umpire Angel Campos.
    Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 23 June 2025
Noun
  • As when a warrant is presented at a private home, at the workplace a valid warrant must be issued by a court, have the correct name and address of the person being seized and be signed by a judge or magistrate judge.
    Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2025
  • That juvenile judge or magistrate would be able to see how many interactions that child has had with the juvenile justice system, balance that with their best interest as well as the best interest of the community and public safety.
    Ivan J. Bates, Baltimore Sun, 2 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Judge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/judge. Accessed 27 Jun. 2025.

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