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

Cath labs are used to evaluate chest pain, identify blocked coronary arteries and perform urgent treatments such as angioplasty and stent placement after heart attacks. — Gabby Sartori, USA Today, 30 June 2026

Jett is nonverbal and has a mental health condition, police said, making the search especially urgent. — Cbs News Atlanta Digital Team, CBS News, 29 June 2026

Last month, many of those companies gathered alongside military officials to address what was clearly an urgent problem requiring novel solutions. — Jeremy Diamond, CNN Money, 28 June 2026

In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party has opportunistically seized on air-conditioning, portraying it as an urgent quality-of-life issue that moralizing environmentalists and overreaching technocrats have ignored. — Thomas Chatterton Williams, The Atlantic, 28 June 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

• 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