urgent

adjective

ur·​gent ˈər-jənt 

1

a

: calling for immediate attention : pressing

urgent appeals

problems of an urgent nature

an urgent need

b

: conveying a sense of urgency

an urgent voice

2

: urging insistently : importunate

an urgent lover

urgently adverb

Synonyms of urgent

• acute
• pressing
• dire
• intense
• compelling
• emergent
• desperate
• critical

Examples of urgent in a Sentence

We've come to deliver an urgent message.

an urgent appeal for assistance

He addressed us in an urgent manner.

An urgent voice came over the intercom, telling us to leave the building immediately.

Recent Examples on the Web

Thus far, though, regional supply has been robust enough to avoid the kinds of urgent pleas that have cropped up elsewhere. —Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Jan. 2026

By then, responses feel urgent, expensive, and constrained. —Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 21 Jan. 2026

Advertisement For Europeans, the stakes are different but no less urgent. —Ivan Krastev, Time, 21 Jan. 2026

The Al Jazeera Documentary Channel Co-Production Award with a €15,000 prize will be awarded to a project highlighting urgent matters of our times from, or about, the MENA region and Sub-Saharan Africa. —Leo Barraclough, Variety, 21 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin urgent-, urgens, present participle of urgēre

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing urgent

• urgent care

Rhymes for urgent

• serjeant
• convergent
• detergent
• divergent
• emergent
• insurgent
• resurgent

Kids Definition

urgent

adjective

ur·​gent ˈər-jənt 

1

a

: calling for immediate attention : pressing

an urgent need for food

b

: indicating an urgent desire or need

an urgent manner

2

: urging very earnestly

urgently adverb