as in urgent
needing immediate attention
since the problem was not seen as emergent, implementation of the expensive solution for it was continually put off
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Recent Examples of emergent
That soft power is largely an emergent property, rather than something that can be guided by a government.
—
Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Kangaroos—like humans—are an unpredictable, emergent consequence of life’s evolution.
—Adam Frank, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2025
The exhibit doesn’t treat youth as a vague, wide-open expanse but instead focusses on the subtle transformations that begin just shy of the teen years—the new calibration of interiority and exteriority, the emergent understanding of independence and accountability.
—Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2025
But the regulation of AI is still in early stages, and efforts to crack down on emergent technology have major gaps.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 10 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for emergent
Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Kangaroos—like humans—are an unpredictable, emergent consequence of life’s evolution.
—Adam Frank, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2025
The exhibit doesn’t treat youth as a vague, wide-open expanse but instead focusses on the subtle transformations that begin just shy of the teen years—the new calibration of interiority and exteriority, the emergent understanding of independence and accountability.
—Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 13 Dec. 2025
But the regulation of AI is still in early stages, and efforts to crack down on emergent technology have major gaps.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 10 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for emergent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for emergent
Adjective
-
And there is another urgent area requiring our attention.—
Sacramento Bee staff,
Sacbee.com,
8 Jan. 2026
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The administration’s enthusiasm to improve America’s health has real, urgent promise.—
Jerome Adams,
Fortune,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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But even for regional agencies, data gaps remain acute, forcing reliance on third-party proxies that flatten economic complexity.—
Yinka Adegoke,
semafor.com,
12 Jan. 2026
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In Clayton’s and Josephson’s hands, though, the fawn response becomes something more pliable, less a sign of acute threat than a broadly anxious orientation to the world.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
12 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Emergent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/emergent. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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