To misjudge means to form an incorrect opinion about someone or something, usually by making a mistake in your assessment or evaluation. When you misjudge how much time you need for homework, you might start too late and have to rush. When you misjudge the difficulty of a test, you might study too little or worry too much.

People often misjudge distances and speeds. A basketball player might misjudge how hard to throw the ball and miss the basket. A driver might misjudge how much space they need to park. These are honest mistakes in judgment, not moral failures.

You can also misjudge people. Someone might seem unfriendly at first, but you misjudged them because they were just shy. A teacher might misjudge a student's abilities based on one bad test.

A misjudgment is the mistake itself: “It was a serious misjudgment to think I could finish that project in one hour.” Everyone misjudges situations sometimes. What matters is learning to make better judgments through experience and being willing to admit when you got something wrong.