pass judgment

Other forms: passing judgment; passed judgment; passes judgment

When you pass judgment, you express your strong disapproval of someone or something. If you're overly critical of your sister, you probably tend to pass judgment on every little move she makes.

The worst thing about people who pass judgment on others is that they tend to act morally superior, as if they're in a position to judge the actions of other people. In fact, the original meaning of pass judgment is a courtroom judge making a legal decision, or — literally — judging. The source of this term is judgment, originally "action of trying at law," from the Latin iudicare, "to examine officially."

Definitions of pass judgment

1. verb

   form a critical opinion of
   synonyms: evaluate, judge

   types:

   grade, order, place, range, rank, rate

   assign a rank or rating to

   stand

   have or maintain a position or stand on an issue

   approve

   judge to be right or commendable; think well of

   disapprove

   consider bad or wrong

   choose

   see fit or proper to act in a certain way; decide to act in a certain way

   prejudge

   judge beforehand, especially without sufficient evidence

   appraise, assess, evaluate, measure, valuate, value

   evaluate or estimate the nature, quality, ability, extent, or significance of

   reappraise

   appraise anew

   reject

   refuse to accept or acknowledge

   accept

   consider or hold as true

   believe, conceive, consider, think

   judge or regard; look upon; judge

   calculate, count on, estimate, figure, forecast, reckon

   judge to be probable

   anticipate, expect

   regard something as probable or likely

   ascribe, assign, attribute, impute

   attribute or credit to

   assign, attribute

   decide as to where something belongs in a scheme

   disapprove, reject

   deem wrong or inappropriate

   adjudge, declare, hold

   declare to be

   critique, review

   appraise critically

   fail

   judge unacceptable

   pass

   accept or judge as acceptable

   essay, examine, prove, test, try, try out

   put to the test, as for its quality, or give experimental use to

   acknowledge, know, recognise, recognize

   accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority

   adopt, embrace, espouse, sweep up

   take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own

   hold

   remain committed to

   guess, imagine, opine, reckon, suppose, think

   expect, believe, or suppose

   assume, presume, take for granted

   take to be the case or to be true; accept without verification or proof

   conjecture, hypothecate, hypothesise, hypothesize, speculate, suppose, theorise, theorize

   believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds

   grade, mark, score

   assign a grade or rank to, according to one's evaluation

   superordinate

   place in a superior order or rank

   shortlist

   put someone or something on a short list

   seed

   distribute (players or teams) so that outstanding teams or players will not meet in the early rounds

   reorder

   assign a new order to

   subordinate

   rank or order as less important or consider of less value

   prioritise, prioritize

   assign a priority to

   sequence

   arrange in a sequence

   downgrade

   rate lower; lower in value or esteem

   upgrade

   rate higher; raise in value or esteem

   rate, value

   estimate the value of

   frown on, frown upon

   look disapprovingly upon

   rubberstamp

   approve automatically

   standardise, standardize

   evaluate by comparing with a standard

   reassess, reevaluate

   revise or renew one's assessment

   censor

   subject to political, religious, or moral censorship

   believe

   accept as true; take to be true

   disbelieve, discredit

   reject as false; refuse to accept

   repudiate

   refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid

   recuse

   challenge or except to a judge as being incompetent or interested, in canon and civil law

   receive

   accept as true or valid

   approbate

   accept (documents) as valid

   reprobate

   reject (documents) as invalid

   rethink

   change one's mind

   think

   dispose the mind in a certain way

   esteem, look on, look upon, perceive, regard as, repute, take to be, think of

   look on as or consider

   feel

   have a feeling or perception about oneself in reaction to someone's behavior or attitude

   consider, reckon, regard, see, view

   deem to be

   believe, trust

   be confident about something

   allow, take into account

   allow or plan for a certain possibility; concede the truth or validity of something

   impute

   attribute (responsibility or fault) to a cause or source

   carnalise, carnalize, sensualise, sensualize

   ascribe to an origin in sensation

   credit

   give someone credit for something

   reattribute

   attribute to another source

   anthropomorphise, anthropomorphize

   ascribe human features to something

   personate, personify

   attribute human qualities to something

   accredit, credit

   ascribe an achievement to

   blame, charge

   attribute responsibility to

   externalise, externalize, project

   regard as objective

   interiorise, interiorize, internalise, internalize

   incorporate within oneself; make subjective or personal

   reconcile, resign, submit

   accept as inevitable

   discountenance

   show disapproval by discouraging

   align, array

   align oneself with a group or a way of thinking

   classify, relegate

   assign to a class or kind

   acknowledge

   accept as legally binding and valid

   disown, renounce, repudiate

   cast off

   brush aside, brush off, discount, dismiss, disregard, ignore, push aside

   bar from attention or consideration

   object

   express or raise an objection or protest or criticism or express dissent

   acknowledge, admit

   declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of

   superannuate

   declare to be obsolete

   bastardise, bastardize

   declare a child to be illegitimate

   certify

   declare legally insane

   call

   declare in the capacity of an umpire or referee

   beatify

   declare (a dead person) to be blessed; the first step of achieving sainthood

   canonise, canonize, saint

   declare (a dead person) to be a saint

   peer review, referee

   evaluate professionally a colleague's work

   deprecate

   express strong disapproval of; deplore

   praise

   express approval of

   take a bow

   acknowledge praise or accept credit

   deter, discourage

   try to prevent; show opposition to

   judge, label, pronounce

   pronounce judgment on

   abide by, honor, honour, observe, respect

   show respect towards

   cancel, strike down

   declare null and void; make ineffective

   formalise, formalize

   make formal or official

   control, verify

   check or regulate (a scientific experiment) by conducting a parallel experiment or comparing with another standard

   float

   circulate or discuss tentatively; test the waters with

   field-test

   test something under the conditions under which it will actually be used

   type of:

   cerebrate, cogitate, think

   use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments