Meaning of judgment In English

• 0 the ability to form valuable opinions and make good decisions:

  • to show good/sound/poor judgment

  • I don't think you have the right to pass judgment (on others) (= to say whether you think other people are good or bad).

  • I'm going to reserve judgment (on the decision) (= not say whether I think it is good or bad) for the time being.

  • It proved difficult to come to/form/make a judgment about how well the school was performing.

  • In my judgment, we should let the solicitor deal with this.

• 1 an official legal decision:

  • It is the judgment of this court that you are guilty of murder.

  • We are still waiting for the court to pass/pronounce judgment (= give a decision) on the case.

• 2 the ability to make decisions or to make good decisions, or the act of developing an opinion, esp. after careful thought:

  • [ U ] to show good/poor judgment

  • [ U ] They questioned his judgment in buying land he had never seen.

  • [ C ] We were asked to make a number of difficult judgments.

• 3 a decision in a court of law

• 4 a decision that you make, or an opinion that you have, after considering all the facts in a situation:

  • Shareholders should back the company's judgement and take up their rights.

  • Financial analysts make informed judgments about how stock markets are likely to perform.

  • make/form/reach a judgment (about/on sth) We tend to make judgments about people at work based on our first impressions.

• 5 the ability to make good decisions or to form sensible opinions about something:

  • Careful judgement will be needed in deciding whether it is trade policy or environmental policy which must be adjusted.

  • Newspaper editors are sometimes guilty of errors in judgement.

  • sound/good/poor judgment Sound judgment is essential because decisions we make directly affect people's health and safety.

  • professional/business judgment

  • exercise/use your judgment We rely on trustees to exercise their judgment in overseeing financial procedures

  • trust/doubt/question sb's judgment Junior employees are often reluctant to question the judgment of their bosses.

  • People should not be forced, against their better judgment, into taking out loans they cannot repay.

  • in sb's judgment In my judgement, this is the biggest foreign policy mistake the country has ever made.

• 6 a final decision made by a judge in a court of law:

  • HM Revenue & Customs is using the recent judgement to argue that UK shareholders in offshore companies should pay income tax.

  • judgment against sb/sth They won a $2.8 million judgment against the insurer for shortchanging them for storm damage to their home.

  • a County Court/Supreme Court judgment

  • a €500,000/$16.8 million, etc. judgment She won a $450,000 judgment after convincing jurors she was subject to sexual harassment.

  • hand down/issue/uphold a judgment

• 7 to express an opinion, especially a criticism:

  • It's up to our court system, not individual citizens, to pass judgment and punish them.

  • pass judgment on sb/sth The shares were only floated this summer, so it is too early to pass judgement on their performance.

• 8 to wait until more information about something is available before expressing an opinion, making a decision, or taking action:

  • People in the industry are reserving judgement until more details of the takeover emerge.

  • reserve judgment on/about sth The three appeal judges reserved judgment on both cases.

• 9 to criticize someone, especially when you have no right to do so:

  • Campaigners insist it is the job of politicians to govern, not to sit in moral judgment on people's lifestyles.