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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

Examples from the Web for exigent

Historical Examples

  • 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

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