Other Word Forms
- superurgency noun
Etymology
Origin of urgency
First recorded in 1530–40; from Late Latin urgentia “pressure,” from urgent-, stem of urgēns “pressing” ( see urgent) + -ia -ia
Explanation
When something has urgency it requires speedy action. If your weather report is flashing red and predicting a hurricane with record rainfall, that forecast would give some urgency to getting that hole in your roof fixed. Urgency comes from the Latin urgere, which means "press, or drive," and it's related to the English word urge. If there's urgency to a situation, it's a pressing issue and you have to respond quickly! Urgency also means an earnest and insistent need. When your friend calls and tells you, "Get into the basement, the hurricane is coming," there would be an urgency in your friend's voice that would make you scurry downstairs to safety.
Vocabulary lists containing urgency
The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 6
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"The urgency is absolute. The deployment of the gang repression force must take place without delay," said Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime.
From Barron's • Apr. 23, 2026
He is calling on his own government to put new resources into enforcement and create tougher laws, as a matter of urgency.
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026
"We do not comment on individual cases. The council will investigate these reports as a matter of urgency."
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026
The context involves a simple and crucial choice — between excessive patience and an urgency grounded in life-and-death human realities.
From Salon • Apr. 20, 2026
The knowledge that Bunny’s body actually lay about two miles to the southwest did not lend much interest or urgency to the search, and I plodded along in a daze, my eyes on the ground.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
