Added 5 October 2026
urgent
/ˈɜː.d͡ʒənt/ adjective
In Latin: instans Wiktionary
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about urgent at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
Requiring immediate attention.
An urgent appeal was sent out for assistance.
- Of people: insistent, solicitous.
Origin
Borrowed from Middle French urgent (“pressing, impelling”), from Latin urgēns, from urgēre (“to press”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵʰ- (“bind, squeeze”). Equivalent to urge + -ent. Related to German würgen (“to strangle”), Lithuanian ver̃žti (“to string, tighten, constrict”), Russian (poetic) отверза́ть (otverzátʹ, “to open”, literally “to untie”), Polish otwierać (“to open”)) and English worry, wring, wreak, wreck.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)