An ill-judged action, remark, or choice is one that was not thought about carefully enough. The person did it, but they read the moment badly: the joke came out cruel, the message went out too fast, the plan ignored an obvious risk. You use it about the act, not usually as a label for someone’s whole character. It is a little formal — the kind of word a teacher, a newspaper, or a parent might use after something has already gone wrong. Though actually, ill-judged does not always mean the person was unkind. Often they were only careless with timing, tone, or what would happen next. The hurt comes from a weak decision, not always from a bad heart.