exigency

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noun ex·i·gen·cy \ ˈek-sə-jən(t)-sē , ig-ˈzi-jən(t)- \

Definition of exigency

plural exigencies

1 :that which is required in a particular situation —usually used in plural

exceptionally quick in responding to the exigencies of modern warfare
—D. B. Ottaway

2 a :the quality or state of being exigent

b :a state of affairs that makes urgent demands

a leader must act in any sudden exigency

See exigency defined for English-language learners

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Examples of exigency in a Sentence

the exigencies requiring snap decisions that traders on the stock exchange face every day

Recent Examples of exigency from the Web

But atmospheric turbulence and optical exigencies often smudge the stars into bigger blurs.

— dennis overbye, The Seattle Times, "The eclipse that revealed the universe," 4 Aug. 2017
Ibsen keeps wines off menu, in reserve, on backup, to fill holes, accommodate seasonal exigencies, and broaden the range of his guests’ experience.

— patrick comiskey, latimes.com, "The wine program at Bestia keeps getting weirder, with white wines leading the way," 3 Aug. 2017
On the Jersey Shore boardwalk, the U.S. students who are working for an hourly wage acknowledge the new exigencies with a nod.

— Time, "Where Did America's Summer Jobs Go?," 29 June 2017
The exigencies of the time meant that the buildings went up faster than their performance could be assessed—or than improvements to their design could be implemented.

— ian volner, The Atlantic, "The Legacy and Lessons of Grenfell Tower," 19 June 2017
A bad workshop leader will likely make only cosmetic suggestions (change this word, move this line, etc., or as Nguyen suggests, be insensitive or unaware of the political or philosophical exigencies of the subject).

— New York Times, "Letters to the Editor," 12 May 2017
Although several cases involved suspected suicidal individuals, missing phones and at least three threats to public officials, some cases appear to not truly fit the standard of exigency.

— fatimah waseem, Howard County Times, "Howard law enforcement use battlefield cellphone trackers with mixed results," 3 May 2017
This discovery was not enough to survive the exigencies of the Washington real estate market.

— john kelly, Washington Post, "No manifest destiny for the District’s Monroe Building. The name is gone.," 25 Apr. 2017
The harsh exigencies of life in suburbs of Paris and Brussels have more power to convince than do even the most rational pleas to renounce violence.

— philip seib, Fortune, "Tech Giants Can’t Do Much to Fight Terrorism," 16 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'exigency.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of exigency

1588

exigency Synonyms

Synonyms

boiling point, breaking point, clutch, conjuncture, crisis, crossroad (s), crunch, crunch time, Dunkirk, emergency, extremity, flash point, head, juncture, tinderbox, zero hour

Synonym Discussion of exigency

juncture, exigency, emergency, contingency, pinch, strait (or straits) crisis mean a critical or crucial time or state of affairs. juncture stresses the significant concurrence or convergence of events.