exigency
Americannoun
-
exigent state or character; urgency.
-
Usually exigencies the need, demand, or requirement intrinsic to a circumstance, condition, etc..
the exigencies of city life.
-
a case or situation that demands prompt action or remedy; emergency.
He promised help in any exigency.
- Synonyms:
- pinch, fix, predicament, strait, plight, contingency, crisis
noun
-
the state of being exigent; urgency
-
(often plural) an urgent demand; pressing requirement
-
an emergency
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of exigency
From the Medieval Latin word exigentia, dating back to 1575–85. See exigent, -ency
Explanation
Think of a mix of excitement and emergency, and you have exigency, a sudden, urgent crisis. The very word conjures up danger and intrigue that demand a cool head and an immediate effort at a solution. Exigency derives from the Latin noun exigentia, which means "urgency" and comes from the verb exigere, meaning "to demand or require." An emergency situation, or exigency, is urgent and demands immediate action. Our lives are filled with exigencies, both large and small, from a child stuck in a tree to lightning striking your house to catastrophic river flooding. Each is an exigency — it's all a matter of perspective.
Vocabulary lists containing exigency
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Scarlet Letter
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Calamity, Catastrophe, and Crisis: Disaster Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That sense of exigency is honeycombed with grief.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2023
"We have absolute faith in Australians understanding the exigency of this reform, why we need it, and we believe they'll come on board and vote yes," Davis said.
From Reuters ● Jun. 23, 2023
“Associated in my entire family’s mind with exigency, a thing that nobody likes!!”
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2022
It is only to say that it reflects the exigency of the crisis — not some essential nobility of character that this country lacks.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2022
Given the exigency, and through what tortuous and secret channels will not the human mind seek to communicate with its kind!
From In Jeopardy by Sutphen, Van Tassel
Unencumbered by deep convictions and free from the constraints imposed by conventional morality or codes of honor, he can alter his tactics to the exigencies of the moment without hesitation or scruple.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
"To spare them from the exigencies of the bill should be done on the grounds that membership of this House would allow them to maintain more easily the contacts that help them perform their duties."
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026
It will be encumbered neither by norms nor the exigencies that compel speech in a democratic society.
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2026
Daniel Kehlmann’s latest novel, “The Director,” an engrossing meditation on the exigencies of art and the dangers of artistic complicity, lands in the United States at a good time.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2025
The exigencies of the times had healed the feuds of hostile factions among the Emancipationists, and they closed hands in defense of their common liberties.
From Sketches of Reforms and Reformers, of Great Britain and Ireland by Stanton, Henry B.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
