Describes a person, or a way of listening, that does not decide someone is bad or stupid or wrong for what they have done. A non-judgmental friend is one you can tell an embarrassing thing to and watch their face stay soft.

The word comes out of counselling and social work, and it has spread into ordinary speech about relationships and parenting. It usually describes an attitude in listening: "a non-judgmental atmosphere", "she listened in a non-judgmental way", "I'm not judging you, I promise". It is warm and approving — calling someone non-judgmental is a compliment.

Here is where people get it wrong, and it matters. Non-judgmental does not mean having no opinions, and it does not mean thinking everything is equally fine. A good counsellor may privately think a client's choice was a disaster; what makes them non-judgmental is that they do not push that at the person, and they do not treat the person as worth less because of it. The judgement being switched off is the judgement of the PERSON, not the ability to think clearly about the action.

Spelled non-judgmental or non-judgemental — both are accepted, the -e- form more British. The hyphen is usual; "nonjudgmental" is common in American writing.