exigency

American  

[ek-si-juhn-see, ig-zij-uhn-] / ˈɛk sɪ dʒən si, ɪgˈzɪdʒ ən- /

Also exigence

noun

• exigencies
  plural

1. exigent state or character; urgency.

2. Usually exigencies the need, demand, or requirement intrinsic to a circumstance, condition, etc..

   the exigencies of city life.

3. 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

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exigency British  

/ ˈɛksɪdʒənsɪ, ɪɡˈzɪdʒənsɪ /

noun

1. the state of being exigent; urgency

2. (often plural) an urgent demand; pressing requirement

3. an emergency

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• exigencies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of exigency

From the Medieval Latin word exigentia, dating back to 1575–85. See exigent, -ency

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

exigency exigencies

The court’s consideration of this motion, moreover, was hardly warp speed for a case of this importance and exigency.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 28, 2024

"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

“There was no exigency requiring immediate intervention by the officers, and no crime had occurred,” according to the referral, as recounted in the OPA summary.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 1, 2022

We believe it to be amply sufficient for every exigency of God's assembly.

From The Assembly of God Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, volume III by C. (Charles) H. (Henry) Mackintosh

But when hungry men were too weak to work, and no seed was available to plant, she concluded that “the reasonable and large-minded political economist would allow that exigencies require exceptions.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 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

Still, it must not be forgotten that "hardy varieties," and races adapted to other exigencies of the non-living environment, have been bred by selection—and nevertheless this variable non-living environment is always with us.

From Disease in Plants by H. Marshall Ward

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Related Words

• contingency
• vicissitude

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