Definition

Noun: 1. An individual's own assessment or opinion: The act or result of forming an opinion or making a decision based on one's own beliefs, experiences, and reasoning, rather than solely on external rules or facts. 2. A legal judgment against a specific party: A court ruling that holds an individual (or corporation) personally liable for the payment of monetary damages.

Usage

• General/Everyday Context: Used to emphasize that a conclusion is based on an individual's subjective evaluation.
  • In my personal judgement, this is the best course of action.
  • The reviewer's personal judgement influenced the final score.
• Formal/Legal Context: Used to specify a type of legal ruling imposing personal financial liability.
  • The court issued a personal judgement against the defendant for $50,000 in damages.

Examples

Advanced Usage

• "To exercise one's personal judgement": To actively apply one's own reasoning and discretion in making a decision.
  • In ambiguous situations, employees are encouraged to exercise their personal judgement.
• "A matter of personal judgement": Something that depends on individual perspective and cannot be decided by objective rules alone.
  • Whether the artwork is beautiful is a matter of personal judgement.

Variants and Related Words

• Judgment (or Judgement) (n): The more general term for the ability to make considered decisions or form sensible opinions, or the decision itself.
• Subjective judgment (n): A judgment influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.
• Discretion (n): The freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation, often based on personal judgment.

Synonyms

• Opinion: A view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
• Assessment: The act of making a judgment about something.
• Discretion: The quality of behaving or speaking in a way that avoids causing offense or revealing private information; also, the freedom to decide.

Antonyms

• Objective fact: A thing that is known or proved to be true, independent of personal feelings.
• Rule-based decision: A conclusion reached by strictly applying predefined rules or criteria.
• Impersonal judgment: A judgment that is not influenced by, or does not consider, personal feelings or circumstances.

Related Phrases

• Against one's better judgment: Doing something even though you think it is not the wisest course of action.
  • I lent him the money against my better judgment.
• To reserve judgment: To delay forming or expressing an opinion until more information is available.
  • I will reserve judgment until I have seen the full report.

Noun

1. a judgment rendered against an individual (or corporation) for the payment of money damages