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exigent

[ek-si-juh nt]
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adjective
  1. requiring immediate action or aid; urgent; pressing.
  2. requiring a great deal, or more than is reasonable.
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Also exigeant.

Origin of exigent

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin exigent- (stem of exigēns) (present participle of exigere to drive out, demand), equivalent to ex- ex-1 + -ig- (combining form of agere to drive) + -ent- -ent
Related formsex·i·gent·ly, adverbnon·ex·i·gent, adjectivenon·ex·i·gent·ly, adverbun·ex·i·gent, adjectiveun·ex·i·gent·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for exigent

acute, burning, clamant, clamorous, critical, crucial, crying, imperative, importunate, insistent, instant, menacing, necessary, threatening, needful, arduous, burdensome, demanding, exacting, grievous

Examples from the Web for exigent

Historical Examples of exigent

  • Charles immediately revealed the full and exigent nature of his demands.

    The Life of Cesare Borgia

    Raphael Sabatini

  • In that case perhaps M. Bertrand des Amis would not be too exigent.

    Scaramouche

    Rafael Sabatini

  • But you are too exigent, monsieur; you assume the husband, and you tease me.

    White Lies

    Charles Reade

  • Are we too exigent when we implore the whites to preach by example?

    South America To-day

    Georges Clemenceau

  • So exigent were the needs of the service, he could "run" with impunity.

British Dictionary definitions for exigent

exigent

adjective
  1. urgent; pressing
  2. exacting; demanding
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Derived Formsexigently, adverb

Word Origin for exigent

C15: from Latin exigere to drive out, weigh out, from agere to drive, compel
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for exigent

adj.

1660s, "urgent," a back-formation from exigency or else from Latin exigentem (nominative exigens), present participle of exigere "to demand" (see exact (v.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper