Have you ever come across the word “adjudicate” while reading a legal article, watching the news, or studying formal English? At first glance, it may seem complicated. However, once you understand its meaning and sentence structure, adjudicate becomes a useful word to add to your vocabulary.
In this guide, I’ll explain the adjudicate meaning, pronunciation, grammar, synonyms, common phrases, and practical examples so you can use the word confidently in everyday and formal English.
What Does Adjudicate Mean?
Adjudicate is a verb that means to make an official decision about a disagreement, dispute, claim, or competition. It can also mean to act as a judge and decide which side is right.
According to Cambridge Dictionary, adjudicate means to act as a judge in a competition or argument or to make a formal decision about something. (Cambridge Dictionary)
In simple English:
Adjudicate = to officially decide or judge a dispute or disagreement.
For example:
- The court will adjudicate the case.
- An independent panel was appointed to adjudicate the dispute.
- She was asked to adjudicate on the disagreement.
The word is particularly common in legal, governmental, academic, business, and competitive contexts.
Adjudicate Meaning in Simple English
If I want to explain adjudicate in the simplest possible way, I would say:
Adjudicate means to carefully consider a disagreement and make an official decision about it.
Imagine that two companies have a disagreement over a contract. Instead of arguing endlessly, they ask an authorized person or organization to examine the evidence and decide who is right.
That person or organization adjudicates the dispute.
The word is therefore stronger and more formal than simply saying “decide.”
Adjudicate Example
The committee was asked to adjudicate the complaint.
This means the committee was asked to examine the complaint and make an official decision.
Adjudicate Pronunciation
The pronunciation of adjudicate is:
/əˈdʒuː.dɪ.keɪt/
You can roughly pronounce it as:
uh-JOO-di-kate
The stress falls mainly on the second syllable.
Is Adjudicate a Verb?
Yes. Adjudicate is a verb.
It can be used both transitively and intransitively. Merriam-Webster defines the transitive use as making an official decision about who is right in a dispute, while the intransitive use means acting as a judge. (Merriam-Webster)
Transitive Use
When you use adjudicate with a direct object:
The panel will adjudicate the dispute.
Here, the dispute is the object.
Another example:
The board will adjudicate the claims.
Intransitive Use
You can also use adjudicate without a direct object:
The court will adjudicate on the matter.
Here, on the matter explains what is being judged.
How to Use Adjudicate in a Sentence
There are several common sentence patterns worth learning.
1. Adjudicate + Object
This is one of the simplest structures.
Subject + adjudicate + object
Examples:
- The court will adjudicate the case.
- The committee will adjudicate the complaint.
- The panel was appointed to adjudicate the dispute.
- The authority will adjudicate the claims.
2. Adjudicate on + Matter
The phrase “adjudicate on” is also common, particularly in formal English.
Examples:
- The judge was asked to adjudicate on the matter.
- An independent body will adjudicate on the dispute.
- The tribunal will adjudicate on the complaint.
Cambridge specifically gives adjudicate on as a common construction. (Cambridge Dictionary)
3. Adjudicate between
When someone has to decide between two people or groups, we can use adjudicate between.
For example:
The committee was asked to adjudicate between the two companies.
This means the committee had to make a decision concerning the disagreement between the companies.
Adjudicate Examples in Everyday and Formal English
Here are some examples that show how I might use adjudicate in different situations:
- The judge will adjudicate the case next month.
- The committee was asked to adjudicate the dispute.
- An independent panel will adjudicate on the complaint.
- The referee was appointed to adjudicate the competition.
- The tribunal will adjudicate between the two parties.
- The organization has the authority to adjudicate claims.
- The matter has not yet been adjudicated.
- The court will eventually adjudicate the issue.
- A senior official was brought in to adjudicate the disagreement.
- The competition requires experienced judges to adjudicate the entries.
Notice that the word isn’t limited to courts. It can also be used for competitions, disagreements, claims, and disputes. Cambridge notes that adjudicate can refer both to disputes and to judging competitions. (Cambridge Dictionary)
Adjudicate vs. Judge
These two words are closely related, but there is a slight difference in tone and usage.
Judge is a common word that can mean to form an opinion, evaluate something, or make a decision as an official judge.
Adjudicate is more formal and usually emphasizes making an official decision, particularly after considering a dispute, claim, or competing arguments.
Compare:
The judge will judge the competition.
This is perfectly natural.
But:
The tribunal will adjudicate the dispute.
This sounds more formal and appropriate for a legal or official context.
Adjudicate vs. Arbitrate
Arbitrate and adjudicate are also similar.
Both can involve resolving disputes, but arbitrate often suggests that an arbitrator is appointed to resolve a disagreement outside the ordinary court process.
Adjudicate has a broader meaning and can refer to an official authority or judge making a decision.
For example:
The arbitrator will arbitrate the contract dispute.
The court will adjudicate the case.
Both words involve dispute resolution, but the context determines which is more natural.
Synonyms of Adjudicate
Depending on the context, useful synonyms include:
- Judge
- Decide
- Determine
- Settle
- Resolve
- Arbitrate
- Rule on
- Determine the outcome
- Adjudge
Merriam-Webster also lists decide, settle, determine, arbitrate, judge, and adjudge among the synonyms of adjudicate. (Merriam-Webster)
However, these words are not always interchangeable. Adjudicate is especially useful when the decision is formal or authoritative.
Common Forms of Adjudicate
Here are the most important grammatical forms:
| Form | Word |
|---|---|
| Base form | adjudicate |
| Third-person singular | adjudicates |
| Present participle | adjudicating |
| Past tense | adjudicated |
| Past participle | adjudicated |
| Noun | adjudication |
| Person who adjudicates | adjudicator |
For example:
- The court adjudicates disputes.
- The panel is adjudicating the complaint.
- The case was adjudicated last year.
- The matter is under adjudication.
- An adjudicator was appointed to review the case.
The noun adjudication refers to the process or act of adjudicating a dispute. (Merriam-Webster)
What Does Adjudicated Mean?
Adjudicated is the past tense and past participle of adjudicate.
It means that an official decision has been made about something.
For example:
The dispute was adjudicated by the court.
This means the court considered the dispute and officially decided it.
Another example:
The claim has already been adjudicated.
Here, the decision-making process has already taken place.
Common Mistakes When Using Adjudicate
Because adjudicate is a formal word, it’s easy to use it incorrectly.
Incorrect:
I adjudicated that my friend was wrong.
This sounds unnatural because adjudicate is normally associated with a formal dispute, case, claim, or competition.
Better:
The committee adjudicated the dispute between the two employees.
Another common mistake is forgetting the appropriate preposition.
Less natural:
The court adjudicated about the case.
Better:
The court adjudicated the case.
Or:
The court adjudicated on the matter.
Learning these patterns will make your writing sound much more natural.
Adjudicate in Legal and Professional English
You will frequently encounter adjudicate in legal and professional writing.
For example:
The tribunal was established to adjudicate employment disputes.
The court will adjudicate the claim based on the available evidence.
The agency does not have the authority to adjudicate private disputes.
This formal tone makes adjudicate particularly useful in essays, reports, legal documents, news articles, and professional correspondence.
Final Thoughts on Adjudicate
When I first encounter a formal word like adjudicate, it can seem intimidating. But the basic idea is actually quite simple.
Adjudicate means to officially judge or decide a dispute, claim, argument, or competition.
If you remember one simple formula, remember this:
Adjudicate = officially decide after considering a dispute or matter.
Use adjudicate + object when you want to say what is being decided:
The court will adjudicate the dispute.
Use adjudicate on + matter when you want to emphasize the subject being considered:
The panel will adjudicate on the matter.
Once you understand these patterns, you can confidently use adjudicate in formal English, academic writing, legal contexts, and professional communication.