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Etymology
Origin of urgency
First recorded in 1530–40; from Late Latin urgentia “pressure,” from urgent-, stem of urgēns “pressing” ( see urgent) + -ia -ia
Explanation
When something has urgency it requires speedy action. If your weather report is flashing red and predicting a hurricane with record rainfall, that forecast would give some urgency to getting that hole in your roof fixed. Urgency comes from the Latin urgere, which means "press, or drive," and it's related to the English word urge. If there's urgency to a situation, it's a pressing issue and you have to respond quickly! Urgency also means an earnest and insistent need. When your friend calls and tells you, "Get into the basement, the hurricane is coming," there would be an urgency in your friend's voice that would make you scurry downstairs to safety.
Vocabulary lists containing urgency
The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 6
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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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:
His tenor saxophone’s tone grows more appealingly buttery with each passing year, yet his phrasing has lost none of its urgency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has created a sense of urgency in the United States to develop regulations that mitigate and prevent risks associated with the technology.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Then the pandemic hit and the sense of urgency accelerated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Recognizing the urgency of the moment, Garcia filed a discharge petition for the American Dream and Promise Act last month.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Only in moments of urgency would Dunwing remind him of his vow, knowing that Bull Sparra was a dangerous despot.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
And I use the word modern, meaning these characters’ urgencies, their interiorities, their conflict, the ways in which they contradict themselves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024
Most goes to communities close to the border “due to the urgencies they are confronting,” but cities far from the border also get funds.
From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2023
"We are ready to give Italy a government that addresses the urgencies and challenges of our time with understanding and competence," Meloni wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
From Reuters ● Oct. 21, 2022
In most big, general-interest art museums, a midsize show like “Off the Record” would be one item on a variegated tasting menu, its arguments and urgencies forgotten as you move on to the next attraction.
From New York Times ● Jul. 29, 2021
When you're dying for so long, old urgencies wither and die.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
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.
