Word of the Day

adjective

The computer technician complained that customers' requests were becoming increasingly exigent, bordering on unreasonable.

"Except in exigent circumstances, citizens are supposed to call the police — not take the law into their own hands." — From an editorial by Owen Courrèges in Uptown Messenger, May 14, 2012

"This writ seemeth to be called an Exigent because it exacteth the party, that is, requireth his expearance or forthcomming, to answer the lawe." Writer John Cowell, referring in 1607 to a writ summoning a person on pain of outlawry, clearly recognized "exigent" as a derivative of Latin "exigere," which means "to demand." Over the last five centuries we have demanded a lot from "exigent." It has served as a legal term (as in Cowell's quote), as well as a noun meaning either "an emergency" or "an end or extremity." Nowadays, the adjective is seen frequently in legal contexts referring to "exigent circumstances," such as those used to justify a search by police without a warrant.

Word Family Quiz: What relative of "exigent" is a synonym of "meager"? The answer is ...

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