judicious
joo-DISH-uss
/dʒuːˈdɪʃ.əs/
Having, showing, or done with good judgment or sense.
Emphasizes balanced, fair, careful, and reasoned decision-making after weighing all sides.
The story behind the word. Judicious traces straight back to Latin 'iudex'—a combination of 'ius' (law, right) and 'dicere' (to speak). A judicious person acts like an ideal judge: hearing all evidence impartially before pronouncing a well-balanced verdict.
Word relationships
- prudent: Prudent focuses on caution and avoiding risk, whereas judicious emphasizes sound evaluation and balanced proportions.
- discerning: Discerning focuses on evaluating quality, while judicious focuses on making wise decisions.
- injudicious: Injudicious means showing a lack of good judgment; foolish.
- reckless: Reckless implies acting without care for consequences.
Commonly confused with
- judicial: Judicial relates strictly to a court of law or judge, while judicious means showing general good judgment.
Word family
- judiciously (adverb): In a judicious manner.
- judiciousness (noun): The quality of showing sound judgment.
Collocations
- judicious use
- judicious choice
- judicious planning
- judicious mix
Idioms & expressions
- weigh in the balance
- temper justice with mercy
Example sentences
- "The committee made a judicious selection of projects to receive government funding during the recession." Policy making
- "A judicious use of company resources enabled the department to remain profitable despite rising costs." Financial management
Memory hook
A JUDicious decision is like what a JUDge makes. JUDicious = Balanced like scales of a JUDGE.
When not to use
Do not use for quick, intuitive impulse judgments.
Fun facts
- Although related to 'judicial', you can be judicious in cooking, spending, or editing without setting foot in a courtroom!
Related words
Also appears in
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