judge 1 of 2

noun

ˈjəj How to pronounce judge (audio)
Definition of judgenext
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
as in to decide
to give an opinion about (something at issue or in dispute) the committee will judge the case solely on the evidence

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to understand
to form an opinion or reach a conclusion through reasoning and information I judge that the girl has had a troubled relationship with her mother

Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in to think
to have as an opinion I judge that he knew what kind of woman she was when he married her

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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
And over the past nine months, a team of judges has been measuring it, pinpointing the exact location of the wave’s base, then stacking images of Slebir’s crouched pose on top of each other like a totem pole up the face of the wave. —Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 13 Sep. 2025 Fletcher, who was considered a strong contender for a state Senate seat in March 2023 when Figueroa filed her complaint, spoke publicly Friday about the allegations one month after a judge dismissed it. —Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Sep. 2025
Verb
Publishers submitted 652 books for the 2025 National Book Award for Nonfiction, which were judged by Heather Kathleen Moody Hall, Tiya Miles, Raj Patel, Cristina Rivera Garza and Eli Saslow, per the release. —Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 10 Sep. 2025 The deciders with the most discretion would also live in fear of commissioners and auditors who would later judge them. —Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for judge
Recent Examples of Synonyms for judge
  1. referee
  2. court
  3. decide
  4. estimate
  5. understand
  6. think
  7. umpire
  8. magistrate
Noun
  • The referee threw a flag on the play, calling a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Tart.
    — Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 9 Sep. 2025
  • But referees are also allowed to disqualify a player when the foul is particularly flagrant.
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 8 Sep. 2025
Definition of referee
Noun
  • His next court case came in January this year, when court records say Brown was at a hospital and someone called police about him.
    — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Favorability sank 22 percentage points from August 2020, when 70% of respondents approved of the court.
    — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 10 Sep. 2025
Definition of court
Verb
  • How would Trump react to his administration now getting to decide the fate of CNN?
    — Brian Welk, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Ego Nwodim has decided to leave the NBC show after seven seasons.
    — Peter White, Deadline, 12 Sep. 2025
Definition of decide
Verb
  • The department is working with University of Arizona researchers to develop statistical models to better estimate numbers.
    — Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • The Bureau of Labor Statistics today issued a revision of its employment numbers for the twelve months between April of 2024 and March of 2025, showing more than nine hundred thousand fewer new jobs than originally estimated.
    — Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2025
Definition of estimate
Verb
  • Your smartphone's voice assistant struggles to understand your accent but works perfectly for others.
    — Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 12 Sep. 2025
  • While parenting responsibilities are widely understood and sometimes better supported in the workplace, senior care still has a long way to go, Zlotsky said.
    — Madeline Mitchell, USA Today, 12 Sep. 2025
Definition of understand
Verb
  • But Antoni Gaudí, the Catalan architect who spent forty-three years working on the Sagrada Família, did not think that his work should compete with God’s, so the basilica will remain a few feet lower than the iconic peak of Montjuïc.
    — D. T. Max, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Pür’s multitasking powder is infused with a host of skincare-grade ingredients to help blur and minimize texture—think retinol, lactic acid, and antioxidants.
    — Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 15 Sep. 2025
Definition of think
Noun
  • After the top of the first inning, several Yankees batters congregated on the third base line with manager Aaron Boone and the umpires.
    — Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Crew chief and home plate umpire Bill Miller called it a strikeout, only to overturn the call when third-base umpire Chad Fairchild suggested the foul tip hit the ground and should be a foul ball.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025
Definition of umpire
Noun
  • Prosecutors could now ask a magistrate judge at Bryant’s Wednesday hearing to find probable cause and re-present the case to another grand jury.
    — Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 10 Sep. 2025
  • Then her latest statement took a different tack and blamed courts and magistrates for allowing repeat offenders to remain on the streets.
    — Wesley Bruer, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2025
Definition of magistrate

Browse Nearby Words

judders
judge
judged
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Cite this Entry

“Judge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/judge. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.

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