judicious
Americanadjective
-
using or showing judgment as to action or practical expediency; discreet, prudent, or politic.
judicious use of one's money.
- Antonyms:
- imprudent
-
having, exercising, or characterized by good or discriminating judgment; wise, sensible, or well-advised.
a judicious selection of documents.
- Synonyms:
- considered, sagacious, sound, sound, sober, reasonable, rational, rational
- Antonyms:
- unreasonable, silly
adjective
Related Words
See practical. See moderate. Judicious, judicial both refer to a balanced and wise judgment. Judicious implies the possession and use of discerning and discriminating judgment: a judicious use of one's time. Judicial has connotations of judgments made in a courtroom and refers to a fair and impartial kind of judgment: cool and judicial in examining the facts.
Other Word Forms
- judiciously adverb
- judiciousness noun
- overjudicious adjective
- overjudiciousness noun
Etymology
Origin of judicious
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin jūdici(um) “judgment” ( judge, -ium ) + -ous; compare Italian giudizioso, French judicieux
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Famed stage and screen director Mike Nichols made judicious cuts, Idle said, though occasionally changed his mind.
From Los Angeles Times
An ideal scenario would involve less but better lending: significantly less wasteful credit to state-owned enterprises and government entities, partly offset by judicious lending to productive private firms.
He told the president he could go even farther than Ronald Reagan, which, in this context, is an interesting statement, since Reagan rattled some sabers initially but actually made the judicious decision to withdraw.
From Salon
That suggested that judicious use of AI could free up time for one of the two radiologists.
From Los Angeles Times
A judicious set of throws limited the Chinese to one in the eighth but GB closed down the ninth end, taking one to force a round of handshakes with an end to spare.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
