JUDGES Synonyms: 123 Similar and Opposite Words

judges 1 of 2

noun

Definition of judges

plural of judge

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

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Relevance

as in courts

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

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judges

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of judge

as in decides

to give an opinion about (something at issue or in dispute) the committee will judge the case solely on the evidence

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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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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

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as in thinks

to have as an opinion I judge that he knew what kind of woman she was when he married her

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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 judges

Noun

Defiant, Mladic acted bullishly during his trial and yelled at the judges when sentenced to life in prison. — Jovana Gec, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026 The couple were known in South Florida for their dinner parties at their homes in Miami Beach and Coconut Grove that gathered musicians, fellow attorneys and judges, senators, bankers, philanthropists and journalists. — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2026 In the 4th Circuit case, two judges appointed by Democratic presidents ruled that the FCC’s interpretation of the law was wrong, and one judge appointed by a Republican president said the FCC got it right. — Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2026 The postponements began shortly after federal judges this month rejected the administration’s attempts to use blanket pauses, rather than individual assessments, to prevent certain immigrants from receiving visas over public-charge concerns. — María Luisa Paúl, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026 The Kansas City Immigration Court tries to have at least seven judges overseeing cases, Sharma-Crawford said. — Taylor O'Connor, Kansas City Star, 26 Aug. 2026 Following the hearing, which lasted all day on Tuesday, the judges require time to fully consider all of the evidence and arguments submitted before writing up their findings and issuing a final decision. — Luke Smith, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026 The Spice Girl, like her fellow judges, struggled to be heard over the raucous audience. — Lars Brandle, Billboard, 26 Aug. 2026 But Pirro’s wins are not a perfect streak, as judges granted the Youth Rehabilitation Act sentences in other cases over her team’s objections. — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 26 Aug. 2026

Verb

MasterChef Australia judges Yeow and Sofia Levin later spoke to 10 News about welcoming Meghan to the set, describing an enthusiastic atmosphere among the contestants. — Erin Hill, PEOPLE, 23 July 2026 Which means Beijing is regulating what your fifteen-year-old does after dinner, behind a closed door, with an entity that never tires of them, never judges them, and never has a bad day of its own. — Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026 But on the third day of qualifying for Wimbledon 2026, a power outage downed the electronic line-calling system that judges whether shots are in or out, causing matches across 18 courts to be suspended for over an hour. — Caoimhe O'Neill, New York Times, 25 June 2026 This time, judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie convinced him to give the show another shot, igniting his journey all the way to the finale. — James Mercadante, Entertainment Weekly, 11 June 2026 The truck just leans into the work and gets on with life like a ranch foreman who drinks coffee black and silently judges your hitch setup. — New Atlas, 27 May 2026 Portnoy travels to cities around the world and judges their pizza scene by taking a single bite (or more) of a cheese pizza and giving it a review. — Irene Wright, USA Today, 26 May 2026 In episode three, Mary judges Eleanor pretty harshly for her choices with Robert. — Brande Victorian, HollywoodReporter, 1 Apr. 2026 The program, which launched last month, gave half a dozen Los Angeles County civil court judges access to AI software called Learned Hand. — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for judges

Noun

That said, England’s best VARs are still predominantly EPL referees, too.

— Graham Scott, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
The state compared Atrium to a soccer team whining about the referees.

— Bob Herman, STAT, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of referees

Noun

In lower courts, the administration has argued that the president has total authority to renovate the White House and other federal buildings.

— Lindsay Whitehurst, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026
In hip-hop and other genres, producers were using snippets of other people’s records; courts often ruled that this was a form of theft, although hip-hop fans tended to see it as righteous theft.

— Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of courts

Verb

In those situations, advice derives much of its value from trust, accountability and experience.

— Alex Shahidi, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
As a result, the film derives overwhelming tension from the creature’s unknown qualities and the terror of an unseen force wreaking havoc on an unassuming community.

— Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of derives

Verb

While there may be dissent about how much transparency is the right amount, no one thinks Warsh is going to deliver a lot of it Friday.

— Brian Cheung, NBC news, 28 Aug. 2026
Corruption is what political scientists call a valence issue – almost everyone thinks corruption is bad, but not everyone agrees about how much of it there is.

— Robert Boatright, The Conversation, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of thinks

Noun

And rather than have the designers come to the jury (of which this editor was a member), the jurists spent several hours with each designer in their own space.

— Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 6 Aug. 2026
Conflict of laws issues then will go on to occasionally fry the minds of even the most brilliant litigators and jurists.

— Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

Definition of jurists

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“Judges.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/judges. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of judges

noun

verb

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