INDEX:
1. to decide how good, bad etc someone or something is
2. to decide who is the winner in a game, competition etc
3. to decide whether someone is wrong to do something
4. to decide who is right in a quarrel
5. to write your opinion of a new film, book etc
6. someone’s ability to judge people or things
7. a standard by which something is judged
RELATED WORDS
be judged in a court of law : ↑ COURT/TRIAL
see also
↑ CRITICIZE
↑ OPINION
↑ DECIDE
↑ ACCUSE
↑ CRIME
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1. to decide how good, bad etc someone or something is
▷ judge /dʒʌdʒ/ [transitive verb]
to form an opinion about a person or situation, using your knowledge, experience, and intelligence :
▪ The changes should be judged by their results.
judge when/whether/what etc
▪ How do you judge when a house needs a new roof?
▪ 2,000 foreign and local monitors were watching to judge whether the elections were free and fair.
judge somebody/something to be something
▪ Women judged to be at high risk for breast cancer should be examined every year.
judging from/by something
when you form an opinion based on a particular fact
▪ Judging from Monday night’s game, the team still has a lot of work to do.
judge (that)
▪ Some students may judge that the benefits they receive from further education are less than the costs of that education.
judge it wise/proper/dangerous etc to do something
formal
▪ Dwight judged it dangerous to navigate in darkness in these waters.
▷ assess /əˈses/ [transitive verb]
to consider someone’s work, ideas, or products, or to consider a situation or event, in order to judge how good they are, what standard they have reached, or how useful they might be to you :
▪ This test provides an excellent way of assessing students’ progress.
▪ He has written a guidebook that assesses the quality of Californian hotels.
▪ The booklet aims to help parents assess recent educational changes.
assess how/whether/what etc
▪ The committee will continue to assess how we can improve.
assessment [countable noun]
▪ The final chapter gives an assessment of various ideas and theories.
▷ evaluate /ɪˈvæljueɪt/ [transitive verb]
to carefully consider how useful or valuable an activity, plan, or suggestion is, especially in order to decide whether or not to start doing it or continue doing it :
▪ There was not enough time to evaluate the information before the meeting.
▪ The new drug is being evaluated in clinical trials.
▪ The police force should not evaluate officers’ performance in terms of the number of arrests they make.
evaluation /ɪˌvæljuˈeɪʃ ə n/ [countable/uncountable noun]
▪ Students provide the college with an evaluation of the courses they took at the end of each semester.
▷ critique /krɪˈtɪːk/ [countable noun]
an article, book, speech etc that carefully examines a subject and says what is good or bad about it :
▪ The speech was a devastating critique of Reagan’s economic policy.
▪ Marx’s critique of capitalism in the 19th century
2. to decide who is the winner in a game, competition etc
▷ judge /dʒʌdʒ/ [transitive verb]
▪ Dillon and two other writers judged the poetry contest.
▪ Pupils were judged in two categories: age 6 to 8, and age 9 to 12.
▪ The annual flower show was judged by a TV celebrity and a professional horticulturist.
be judged the best/the winner etc
▪ A photograph of a stormy beach was judged ‘best in show’ by the panel.
▷ judge /dʒʌdʒ/ [countable noun]
someone whose job is to judge a game, competition etc :
▪ There are normally three judges for the national essay competition.
▷ referee also ref informal /ˌrefəˈriː, ref/ [countable noun]
someone whose job is to judge a sports game and make sure that the players obey the rules - for example in football :
▪ The referee should never have allowed the first goal.
▪ One of the players was sent off for arguing with the referee.
▷ umpire /ˈʌmpaɪəʳ/ [countable noun]
someone whose job is to judge a sports game and make sure that the players obey the rules - for example in football and tennis :
▪ I thought he was out, but the umpire called him safe.
▪ Mack was thrown out of the game for hitting an umpire.
3. to decide whether someone is wrong to do something
▷ judge /dʒʌdʒ/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to decide whether someone is wrong to do something - use this when you think someone has no right to do this :
▪ What right does she have to judge me?
▪ Don’t judge other people unless you want to be judged yourself.
▪ She should do what seems right to her. It isn’t for me to judge.
▷ pass judgment also judgement British /ˌpɑːs ˈdʒʌdʒməntǁˌpæs-/ [verb phrase]
to judge something or someone in a negative and often unreasonable way :
▪ He refused to pass judgement until all the evidence was presented.
pass judgment upon/on
▪ Society badly needs to learn not to pass judgment on people because of their background.
▷ sit in judgement /ˈdʒʌdʒmənt, ˌsɪt ɪn ˈdʒʌdʒmənt/ [verb phrase] British
to judge whether someone’s behaviour is good or bad - use this especially when you think someone should not be doing this :
▪ I don’t care how annoyed she is - she’s got no absolutely no right to sit in judgement.
sit in judgement on/upon/over
▪ It seems wrong that 12 white men could sit in judgment on one black woman.
▷ judgemental British /judgmental American /dʒʌdʒˌmentl/ [adjective]
too ready to judge and criticize other people :
▪ I try not to be judgmental, but if I think someone’s being stupid, I’ll say so.
▪ The parenting class is run in an open, non-judgmental manner that lets people speak freely.
judgemental about
▪ The public is often judgmental about people’s sexuality.
4. to decide who is right in a quarrel
▷ adjudicate /əˈdʒuːdɪkeɪt/ [intransitive verb] formal
if someone, especially a lawyer, adjudicates, they officially form a judgement about who is legally right in an argument or disagreement :
▪ The World Court adjudicates boundary disputes and commercial claims.
adjudicator [countable noun]
▪ Legal advisors and adjudicators were present at the trial.
adjudication /əˌdʒuːdɪˈkeɪʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun]
▪ The situation has now become so serious that any form of adjudication would be impossible.
▷ arbitrate /ˈɑːʳbɪtreɪt, ˈɑːʳbətreɪt/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to officially judge how an argument between two opposing groups or organizations can be settled :
▪ As president of the European Council he arbitrated in an argument over cereal prices.
▪ Most brokerage firms require customers to arbitrate disputes rather than file lawsuits.
arbitrate between
▪ A local magistrate has been asked to arbitrate between farmers and conservationist groups.
arbitrator [countable noun]
▪ She works as an arbitrator between representatives of various competing businesses.
▷ arbitration /ˌɑːʳbɪˈtreɪʃ ə n, ˌɑːʳbəˈtreɪʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun]
the process of judging officially who is right in an argument or disagreement, by someone who has been chosen by the opposing groups :
▪ The case has been submitted for international arbitration.
go to arbitration
ask someone to arbitrate
▪ Both parties agreed to go to arbitration in order to avoid more strikes by the workers.
5. to write your opinion of a new film, book etc
▷ review /rɪˈvjuː/ [transitive verb]
to write an article in a newspaper or magazine judging how good or bad a film, play, television programme, or book is :
▪ Doig’s new book is reviewed on page 4.
▪ As well as being an author, she reviews books for the Sunday papers.
▪ Eliot wrote to him after he reviewed ‘The Use of Poetry.’
reviewer [countable noun]
▪ Reviewers praised Tisler’s performance.
▷ review /rɪˈvjuː/ [countable noun]
an article in a newspaper or magazine that judges a book, television programme, film etc :
▪ Our first English assignment was to write a book review.
▪ The movie got good reviews.
review of
▪ Wilberforce had just written a long review of Darwin’s book.
▷ write-up /ˈraɪt ʌp/ [countable noun] informal
an article in a newspaper or magazine, that says how good or bad a new film, book, product etc is :
▪ Did you see Martin Amis’ write-up of the book in the Observer?
▪ After a write-up in Yankee magazine, orders started pouring in.
▪ The film didn’t get a very good write-up in Time Out.
▷ critic /ˈkrɪtɪk/ [countable noun]
someone who writes in newspapers or magazines or on television or radio, giving their judgement about books, films etc :
▪ I didn’t think the book was as bad as the critics said it was.
theatre/film/art etc critic
▪ For five years she was theater critic for the New Yorker.
▪ Film critic Roger Ebert has a new partner for his movie-review television program.
6. someone’s ability to judge people or things
▷ judgment also judgement British /ˈdʒʌdʒmənt/ [uncountable noun]
▪ The break-up of a serious relationship can often make us lose confidence in our own judgement.
▪ Teachers need to have good judgement of pupils’ needs and abilities.
sound judgement
good judgement
▪ Environmental rules are developed using good information and sound judgment.
▷ be a good/bad etc judge of /biː ə ˌgʊd ˈdʒʌdʒ ɒv/ [verb phrase]
be able to judge people or situations well, badly etc :
▪ She’d always thought Mr Cunningham was a good judge of character.
▪ Professional people are sometimes bad judges of their colleagues’ conduct.
7. a standard by which something is judged
▷ standard /ˈstændəʳd/ [countable noun]
a level of quality, skill, achievement etc by which something is judged :
▪ Shakespeare is the standard against which all playwrights must be measured.
▪ Many Europeans who consider themselves to be poor are rich by the standards of some Third World countries.
▷ scale /skeɪl/ [countable noun]
a set of standards, levels, or degrees against which you can compare and judge things :
▪ On a scale of one to ten, ten being best, his new movie is a two.
▪ The researchers devised a scale to measure people’s attitudes toward certain types of behavior.
▷ criterion /kraɪˈtɪ ə riən/ [countable noun]
a standard you use in order to judge people or things, especially one that may be different from the standard used by other people or organizations :
▪ The company’s criterion for success is high sales.
▪ Changing the college admissions criteria will have a serious effect.
set of criteria
group of standards
▪ The group ranks cities according to its own set of criteria.
HINT : The plural of criterion is criteria.
▷ benchmark /ˈbentʃmɑːʳk/ [countable noun usually singular]
a very high standard of quality, achievement, or excellence, against which all other things have to be compared and judged :
▪ Under Coach Wooden, UCLA men’s basketball was so successful it was the benchmark other teams measured themselves against.
benchmark for
▪ In the 1960s and 1970s the Swedish political system was regarded as a benchmark for other European countries.
▷ yardstick /ˈjɑːʳdˌstɪk/ [countable noun usually singular]
a person or thing that you compare another person or thing with, in order to judge how good or successful they are :
▪ Many teachers say the primary school tests are not a useful educational yardstick.
yardstick for
▪ The hospital has developed a treatment for cancer which has become the yardstick for all other treatments.