urgentadj.
/ˈəːdʒ(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˈərdʒənt/ I. That impels or demands urgency.
1.
a. Pressing, impelling; demanding or calling for prompt action; marked or characterized by urgency. (Frequently from c1800.)In earliest use with cause or necessity.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > urgent
urgent1496
instant1585
pressing1609
rash1609
pressive1619
imperative1621
imperious1623
exigent1624
urging1647
emergent1706
high pressure1834
acute1846
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > need or want > [adjective] > urgent
urgent1496
thronga1525
crying1608
pressing1609
rash1609
pressive1619
urging1647
immergent1655
emergent1706
acute1846
1496 Rolls of Parl. VI. 515/1 Towarde the..mayntenaunce of the Armye aforsaid, and urgent causes concernyng the same.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. IIIiiiv But onely whan cause vrgent, and very necessite compelleth.
1558 Bp. T. Watson Holsome Doctr. Seuen Sacramentes xix. f. cxvv Where the Sacrament is excluded by vrgent necessitye.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. iv. sig. Ll3 The more I stirre about vrgent affaires.
1604 Thornborough Discovrse (title page) The euident vtilitie and vrgent necessitie of the desired happie Vnion.
1660 J. Milton Readie Way Free Commonw. (ed. 2) 100 To the retarding..oft times of thir counsels or urgentest occasions.
1677 A. Marvell Let. 6 Mar. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 185 The true remedy of the urgent condition of this poore Nation.
1712 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 25 Feb. (1948) II. 498 I have no urgent Business upon my Hands.
1755 E. Young Centaur vi, in Wks. (1757) IV. 282 With only this additional, and still more urgent,..motive for reformation.
1769 W. Buchan Domest. Med. ii. 261 Unless these symptoms are urgent, it is safer to trust to fomentations.
1816 J. Scott Paris Revisited vi. 117 They were soon forced to separate to attend to their respective urgent duties.
1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xx. 239 What may be done by simple means in relieving an urgent disease.
1866 J. E. T. Rogers Hist. Agric. & Prices I. xxi. 528 The necessity not being so urgent as it is now.
b. Of commands, messages, etc., by which a matter is strongly pressed upon a person's attention.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > pressure or urgency > [adjective]
instant1477
urgent1611
1611 Bible (King James) Dan. iii. 22 The Kings commandement was vrgent . View more context for this quotation
1779 Mirror No. 32 The remonstrances of his man of business, aided by very urgent requests from me.
1817 J. Bentham Chrestomathia Pt. II 262 Other objects, for the illustration of which the demand..is accordingly still more urgent.
1856 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine iv. 205 This summons was as urgent as words can describe.
1883 O. W. Holmes Pages from Old Vol. 63 A second telegraphic message..so direct and urgent that I should be sure of an answer to it.
1886 S. Baring-Gould Court Royal xxxviii ‘Papa,’ said Lady Grace in urgent tones.
2. Of a feeling, etc.: that constrains, impels, or prompts. Also const. of.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > [adjective] > inciting or instigating
stirring1421
movingc1443
provokingc1443
incitative1490
urgent1559
propulsory1585
pricking1592
pulsive1602
incentive1603
incitatory1610
urging1612
animalizing1617
impellent1620
irritant1636
instigative1644
propulsive1648
promptive1653
parastatic1656
exstimulatory1657
impulsory1659
appelling1666
irritative1686
instigating1702
spurring1702
stimulatinga1732
stimulatory1758
impulsive1788
stimulant1803
stimulative1836
exertivea1856
inciting1855
incitant1886
incitive1888
on-driving1927
incitory1941
1559 Reg. St. Andrews Kirk Session (S.H.S.) I. 18 Giue thei be vexed and urnet with ustioun and urgent appetites of the flesche.
1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. Evijv Yf I haue suche vrgent luste, And lykyng to indite.
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 31 The miseries of Ireland are urgent of a speedy redresse.
1748 G. White Serm. (MS.) If people will not follow nature in her most urgent affections, and importunate Requests.
1873 J. Morley Rousseau II. x. 33 When men are beginning to feel the urgent spirit of a new time.
3.
a. Of persons: pressingly solicitous; importunate, insistent. Also with prepositions, as for, in, on, †unto.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > request > [adjective] > importunate
onwileOE
importune?1406
instant1477
importunate1529
urgent1548
important1591
importuning1599
instancing1606
clamorous1621
precarious1655
craving1668
clamanta1687
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Premo,..premere,..to be vrgent or instante vpon.
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Premo I was not more vrgent or instant on any pointe, then, &c.
1594 C. Marlowe & T. Nashe Dido iii. i All these..Haue been most vrgent suiters for my loue.
1611 Bible (King James) Exod. xii. 33 The Egyptians were vrgent vpon the people that they might send them out of the land in haste. View more context for this quotation
1698 J. Collier Short View Immorality Eng. Stage iii. 107 Oedipus is..Urgent for an account of Particulars.
1732 T. Lediard tr. J. Terrasson Life Sethos II. x. 355 The officers of his fleet were urgent in offering their services.
1778 F. Burney Evelina I. ii. 6 The advice and entreaties of all his friends, among whom I was myself the most urgent.
1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 149 His family have been very urgent for him to make an expedition to Margate.
1883 Law Times 20 Oct. 408/1 The public and the Profession were alike urgent in calling for sweeping reforms.
b. Eagerly desirous to do something.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > strong or eager desire > [adjective]
yernc893
oflisteOE
courageousc1290
eager?a1300
greedya1300
keena1375
affectuousa1400
lickerousc1405
appetentc1420
affectual1483
gasping1517
zealous1531
avidious1534
avidous1542
affectivec1550
anxious1570
lickerish1579
solicitous1628
mantling1657
ambitioning1683
urgent1753
avid1769
agasp1800
concernable1886
yearnful1889
yevery1896
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison II. xxviii. 227 I never knew him to be so very urgent to know my heart.
1798 S. Lee Young Lady's Tale in H. Lee Canterbury Tales II. 181 [It] made him..urgent to set out for England.
1826 J. Galt Last of Lairds xxxiv. 302 Mr. Loopy..had been calling, urgent to see me.
1846 A. Marsh Father Darcy II. 243 He is very urgent to see him.
II. That presses onwards; oppressive.† 5. Oppressive; severe; heavy. Obsolete.† 6. Of time: pressing; passing quickly. Obsolete.
4. Impelling, pressing, or bearing onwards.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > [adjective] > impelling or driving
urgent1546
impulsive1604
compulsivea1616
impellent1620
driving1642
enormantic1651
chasing1669
commanding1680
pulsivea1687
impelling1767
1546 in W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York (1894) I. 209 When as the waters of Rothere and Downe are so urgent, that the curate of Rotherham cannot to them repayre.
1876 R. Bridges Growth of Love v Her launched passion when she sings Wins on the hearing like a shapen prow Borne by the mastery of its urgent wings.
1879 R. Bridges Passer-by i Whither, O splendid ship, thy white sails crowding, Leaning across the bosom of the urgent West.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > severity > [adjective]
heavyc825
grimc900
strongeOE
hardeOE
drearyOE
eileOE
sweerOE
deara1000
bitterOE
tartc1000
smartOE
unridec1175
sharp?c1225
straitc1275
grievousc1290
fellc1330
shrewda1387
snella1400
unsterna1400
vilea1400
importunea1425
ungainc1425
thrallc1430
peisant1483
sore?a1513
weighty1540
heinous?1541
urgent?1542
asperous?1567
dure1567
spiny1586
searching1590
hoara1600
vengible1601
flinty1613
tugging1642
atrocious1733
uncannya1774
severe1774
stern1830
punishing1833
hefty1867
solid1916
?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors ii. sig. B2v An vrgent dammage to the common welth.
1578 G. Best True Disc. Passage to Cathaya i. 23 During the .ii. houres of those two dayes the heat is very vrgent.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) i. ii. 172 Not alone The death of Fuluia, with more vrgent touches Do strongly speake to vs. View more context for this quotation
1702 C. Beaumont J. Beaumont's Psyche (new ed.) iii. cxlvii. 36 Which Jesus seeing, He upon him threw The urgent yoak of an express Injunction.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > swift movement of time > [adjective]
slidinga900
scrithingOE
henwardOE
swifta1225
short livya1325
passing1340
flittingc1374
shadowy1374
temporalc1384
speedfula1400
transitory?c1400
brittlea1425
unabidingc1430
frail?c1450
indurablec1450
scrithel?c1475
caduke1483
transitorious1492
passanta1500
perishinga1500
caducea1513
fugitive?1518
caducal?1548
quick1548
delible1549
flittering1549
undurable?1555
shadowish1561
fleeting1563
vading1566
flightful1571
wanzing1571
transitive1575
slipping1581
diary1583
unlasting1585
never-lasting1588
flit1590
post-like1594
running1598
short-lived1598
short-winded1598
transient1599
unpermanent1607
flashy1609
of a day1612
passable1613
dureless1614
urgenta1616
waxena1616
decayable1617
horary1620
evanid1626
fugitable1628
short-dated1632
fugacious1635
ephemerala1639
impermanent1653
fungous1655
volatile1655
ephemerousa1660
unimmortal1667
timesome1674
while-being1674
of passage1680
journal1685
ephemeron1714
admovent1727
evanescent1728
meteorous1750
deciduous1763
preterient1786
ephemeridal1795
meteorica1802
meteor1803
ephemerean1804
ephemerid1804
evanescing1805
fleeted1810
fleet1812
unenduring1814
unremaining1817
unimmortalized1839
impersistent1849
flighty1850
uneternal1862
caducous1863
diurnal1866
horarious1866
brisk1879
evasive1881
picaresque1959
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) i. ii. 465 Please your Highnesse To take the vrgent houre. View more context for this quotation
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. i. 74 But time is urgent; haste we to consult Priest, prophet, or interpreter of dreams.
Derivatives
ˈurgentness n. rare urgency.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > urgency
urgency1540
urgentness1598
urgencec1605
pressingness1661
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > need or want > [noun] > a need or requirement > urgent or pressing > urgency
urgency1540
urgentness1598
urgencec1605
pressingness1661
pressure1812
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres ii. 25 The vrgentnesse of the cause doeth deepely require it.
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Pressingness, Urgentness.
Draft additions 1993
c. quasi-adv. In the superlative form urgentest n. Telegraphese as urgently as possible. Cf. soon adv. 13a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > necessity > condition of being necessary > [adverb] > urgently > as urgently as possible
urgentest1969
1969 N. Freeling Tsing-Boum viii. 50 Pray send urgentest all known.
1981 ‘W. Haggard’ Money Men iii. 37 You should report to me urgentest, if necessary on an open line.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1926; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1496