Judgmental

How to spell judgmental

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce judgmental

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does judgmental mean?

1. adjectiveTending to form quick, often harsh, critical opinions of other people.

Judgmental in a sentence

• Her judgmental tone made the new staff feel uncomfortable at meetings.

• A good counsellor listens without becoming judgmental about your choices.

Where does judgmental come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word builds on judgment, which English took from the Old French jugement, itself rooted in the Latin verb iudicare, meaning 'to judge' or 'to decide'. That Latin verb was formed from iudex, a judge, literally someone who 'points out the law', combining ius 'law, right' with the root dicere 'to say'. English adopted judge and judgment in the 1300s, and the spelling without the middle e (judgment, judgmental) became common because the soft g sound was felt to be carried by the following m. The adjective judgmental is much younger, appearing in the twentieth century to describe a person quick to criticise others, and the spelling trap lies exactly there: many writers expect a silent e after the g, as in 'judge', but in this form it is routinely dropped.

How the word is built

• judg- (from judge: to form an opinion)
• -ment (noun-forming suffix)
• -al (adjective suffix)