1
as in referees
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
Relevance
2
as in courts
a public official having authority to decide questions of law
the judge gave the defendant a suspended sentence
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in decides
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 estimates
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 derives
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 thinks
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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of judges
Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 8 Jan. 2026
RuPaul’s Drag Race features mainstay judges RuPaul Charles, Michelle Visage, Carson Kressley, Ross Mathews, and Ts Madison.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 7 Jan. 2026
OpenAI continued to destroy output logs despite orders from two judges to preserve and provide them to the news organizations, new court filings allege.
—Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 7 Jan. 2026
As judges, students will be operating on-campus early voting sites specially instituted for the initiative.
—Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026
That being said, judges are allowed to keep a binder to write down clues.
—Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 7 Jan. 2026
Williams was able to petition for resentencing due to a law enacted in 2011 that allowed judges to give juvenile offenders with life without parole sentences a chance to be resentenced.
—CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
The goal is to highlight Karrie’s features that will hopefully impress the judges and even have an opportunity to lessen the impact of anything that might lower his score.
—Chris Torres, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 Jan. 2026
The guidelines are recommendations only, intended to help judges fashion fair sentences that are consistent with how offenders are treated in courts nationwide.
—Kevin Krause, Dallas Morning News, 6 Jan. 2026
Thomas Smith, Billboard, 16 Oct. 2025
Joining judges Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba and Derek Hough this week is former dancing pro Kym Johnson.
—Brianne Tracy, PEOPLE, 15 Oct. 2025
As West reports, Dubno’s update puts us in the head of an unnamed twentysomething who judges her peers at a cocktail party.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025
Along with hosting Taskmaster, Horne serves as the umpire for each challenge, while Davies judges the performances and awards points on how well the contestants do.
—Jason Pham, StyleCaster, 25 Sep. 2025
Your point about being present reminds me of the scene where Jack judges the girl for taking a selfie on the rooftop and Heather calls him out.
—Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 20 Aug. 2025
Figuring out critical consensus requires polling your community, and with more films being made and submitted to festivals than ever before, who judges these competition matters.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 9 Aug. 2025
That shift — from hype to proof — is redefining how the market judges AI investments.
—Kolawole Samuel Adebayo, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2025
Who are the Red Bull Flugtag judges?
—Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 12 Aug. 2023
Noun
Regardless of which party is calling for the impeachment of judges, the outcome is unlikely to result in a conviction by the Senate.
—Verb
The winner was chosen by an independent panel, which each year judges the entries on artistic achievement.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for judges
Noun
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The referees stole a win from Pittsburgh with a questionable interpretation of the rules.—
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Contessa’s Corner Sports leagues, state gambling regulators and tribal leaders have all raised concerns that prediction market trades on sports don’t have the same level of guardrails as sportsbooks to protect against cheating by athletes, referees, coaches and other insiders.—
Noun
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Tennis, pickleball, and padel courts at the Cliff Drysdale Tennis Center continue the property’s long-standing connection to the sport, which stems from Key Biscayne hosting the Miami Open for three decades—until 2018—and becoming a destination for tennis pros.—
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The charges were dropped in November after state courts removed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case for having a romantic relationship with another prosecutor.—
Verb
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And while Elliott would like to see Nielsen as the next CEO, if the board decides on someone else who is equally qualified, Elliott will support that decision.—
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Georgia grows tired of her husband and their nightly trips to the fancy French restaurant and decides to have an affair with another man at another table (Alan Howard).—
Verb
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Without the tax credits, premiums for ACA enrollees who previously relied on the subsidies will increase by an average of 114%, estimates KFF, a nonprofit provider of health policy news and research.—
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The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages Texas’ power grid, currently estimates energy demand will surge 71% by 2031 due to data center growth.—
Verb
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Given that the city’s budget derives roughly three-quarters of its annual revenue from property taxes, that dynamic is shifting more of the city’s tax burden onto homeowners.—
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In fact, the word alcohol derives from early distillation methods from the Arabic al-kuhul, a word for an ancient Egyptian dark eyeliner that was made using an early distillation technology in Alexandria.—
Verb
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That's precisely what a smart Southern cook thinks, too.—
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The Pahlavi pretender himself certainly thinks so.—
Noun
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The league will debut the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System to check the accuracy of umpires’ pitch calls.—
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Contemporary managers, executives and umpires will be considered in December 2026, classic era candidates in December 2027 and contemporary era players again in December 2028.—
Noun
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The state's top jurists gather every November for an annual chili cook off.—
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Amid the reporting, his chief judge banned jurists at his court from including chats during court livestreams .—
Cite this Entry
“Judges.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/judges. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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