Meaning & use
judging
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“judging” is a form of “judge”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
The -ing form of judge: forming an opinion about the value or worth of someone or something, often after careful thought.
Grammar: Takes an object: judging the contest.
Patterns
- judging something
- judging someone by something
She is judging the baking contest this afternoon.
Stop judging people by how they dress.
Judging a book by its cover is a common mistake.
verbfixed phrase
Used in the fixed phrase judging by or judging from to say that you are basing a conclusion on certain evidence.
Grammar: Introduces evidence: judging by the sky, it will rain.
Patterns
- judging by something
- judging from something
Judging by the clouds, it will rain soon.
Judging from his smile, the interview went well.
Judging by the smell, dinner is nearly ready.
noununcountable
The act of deciding the winner or the quality of something in a competition.
Grammar: As a noun it often appears in compounds: judging panel.
Patterns
- judging panel
- judging criteria
Judging begins at ten o'clock in the main tent.
The judging was close, and the audience cheered loudly for both finalists.
Fair judging depends on clear criteria.
Word forms
| base form | judge |
|---|---|
| third person singular | judges |
| past tense | judged |
| past participle | judged |
Common combinations
- judging by
- Judging by the traffic, we will be late.
- judging from
- Judging from her tone, she was upset.
- judging panel
- The judging panel included three chefs.
- judging criteria
- The judging criteria were posted on the wall.
- stop judging
- Stop judging me and listen.
- judging a competition
- She enjoys judging a school science competition.
Synonyms and how they differ
- assessing
- Assessing means carefully measuring quality or amount, often formally, while judging can be quick or casual.
- evaluating
- Evaluating suggests a careful, step-by-step check of worth, while judging may rely on gut feeling.
- criticizing
- Criticizing means finding fault, whereas judging does not need to be negative.
- deeming
- Deeming is formal and means regarding something as a certain way, while judging also covers deciding competitions.
Opposites
Word family
- judge verb
- to form an opinion or decide a contest
- judge noun
- a person who decides legal cases or contests
- judgment noun
- an opinion or decision, also spelled judgement in British English
- judgmental adjective
- too quick to criticize other people
- prejudge verb
- to form an opinion before knowing the facts
Commonly confused: judging or judgmental?
judging vs judgmental
Judgmental means critical of others, while judging just means forming an opinion or deciding.
Practice
Complete the sentence. ______ the number of cars outside, the party must be huge.
Choose one answer.
Judging by means based on the evidence of and introduces a conclusion. The other options are not standard fixed phrases.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “judging”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.