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
- nonurgent adjective
- superurgent adjective
- unurgent adjective
- urgency noun
- urgently adverb
Etymology
Origin of urgent
First recorded in 1490–1500; from Latin urgent- (stem of urgēns ), present participle of urgēre “to press, force, drive”; urge, -ent
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.
But its humor is rooted in that hazy 1970s sense of drift, when boredom and isolation start to blur together and nothing feels especially urgent, even when it probably should.
From Los Angeles Times
Ford’s need to “de-risk” looks more urgent today: Rising oil prices have created yet another headwind for automakers that pivoted to making gas-guzzlers.
Childhood scenes rushed back at me out of the night, strangely close and urgent.
From Literature
“But my son is ill, seriously ill, and I have to find a doctor. Please. It is urgent.”
From Literature
The actor stars in a soaring, witty space epic, based on the novel by Andy Weir, about a man on a last-ditch mission to protect the sun from a microscopic but urgent threat.
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.
