urgent
Americanadjective
-
compelling or requiring immediate action or attention; dire; pressing.
an urgent matter.
- Synonyms:
- desperate, imperative
-
insistent or earnest in solicitation; importunate, as a person.
an urgent pleader.
-
expressed with insistence, as requests or appeals.
an urgent tone of voice.
adjective
-
requiring or compelling speedy action or attention
the matter is urgent
an urgent message
-
earnest and persistent
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of urgent
First recorded in 1490–1500; from Latin urgent- (stem of urgēns ), present participle of urgēre “to press, force, drive”; see urge, -ent
Explanation
If something is urgent it requires immediate attention or action. If you break your leg, you'll need urgent attention at the hospital — that means the doctors will tend to you without delay. Urgent comes from the Latin word urgentem, meaning "to press hard, urge." You can see that urgent contains the word urge, meaning "to demand or insist." When you get an urgent message, you need to drop what you're doing to deal with it. An urgent need, like hunger, is a pressing one. If you're a music fan, you might know the song "Urgent" by the band Foreigner. The song's lyrics "make it fast, make it urgent" and its frenetic style help define the word.
Vocabulary lists containing urgent
A Long Walk to Water
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List 7
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Bud, Not Buddy
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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.
Replimune said it plans to resubmit the BLA “in the coming days,” adding that the FDA has indicated it will treat the resubmission “as an urgent matter.”
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
“The reality remains — the Center requires an urgent and significant restoration — a truth that even the plaintiff acknowledges.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
The agency will now treat Replimune’s RP1 as ‘an urgent matter.’
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
Almost exactly three years before Waldorf showed up at Washington Regional in urgent need of care, a 28-year-old woman named Josseli Barnica arrived at a Houston emergency room with the same condition.
From Salon • May 27, 2026
But more than anything, the air is full of life, messy and urgent and thrilling.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
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.
