Meaning & use
lapse of judgment
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableformal
A short period in which someone makes a poor decision that is out of character for them.
Grammar: Takes a: a lapse of judgment; often as the explanation for an error.
Patterns
- a lapse of judgment
- have a lapse of judgment
- apologize for a lapse of judgment
The mayor called his decision a lapse of judgment and apologized.
Sending that email while angry was a serious lapse of judgment.
One lapse of judgment cost the player his place in the team.
Word forms
| plural | lapses of judgment |
|---|
Common combinations
- a momentary lapse of judgment
- I can only call it a momentary lapse of judgment.
- a serious lapse of judgment
- Leaving the door unlocked was a serious lapse of judgment.
- admit a lapse of judgment
- He admitted a lapse of judgment and offered to resign.
- blame on a lapse of judgment
- She blamed the mistake on a lapse of judgment.
Synonyms and how they differ
- error of judgment
- Error of judgment is similar but suggests a wrong decision, whereas lapse suggests a brief failure out of character.
- misjudgment
- Misjudgment is a single noun and can mean a wrong estimate, not necessarily a temporary slip.
- slip-up
- Slip-up is informal and casual, while lapse of judgment sounds formal and serious.
- mistake
- Mistake is the general everyday word and does not suggest a momentary loss of good sense.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: lapse of judgment or lapse of memory?
lapse of judgment vs lapse of memory
A lapse of memory is forgetting something briefly; a lapse of judgment is a poor decision.
Practice
He admitted that posting the photo was a ___ of judgment.
Choose one answer.
Lapse of judgment is the fixed phrase for a short mistake out of character. Lack of judgment is also a phrase but means a general absence, and loss and fail do not collocate.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lapse of judgment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.