urgent
- 01 B1 Intermediate
needing to be dealt with right away because it is very important.
requiring immediate action or attention due to the critical nature of the situation.
Simple“The hospital sent an urgent message to the doctor about the patient.”
In context“The government issued an urgent appeal for international aid as the floodwaters continued to rise across the central provinces.”
Antonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
showing that you think something is very important and needs to be done now.
characterised by insistence or a pressing manner in communication or behaviour.
Simple“He spoke in an urgent whisper, telling us we had to leave immediately.”
In context“Her voice took on an urgent tone as she explained that the window for negotiation was rapidly closing.”
SynonymsAntonyms
Usage urgent action · urgent care · urgent needs
“In May, his first report warned that Britain risked a 25% rise in the number of Neets to 1.25 million by the early 2030s without urgent government action.”
“The problem is, however, you could be waiting months to get one this way, particularly when it’s not urgent.”
Borrowed from Middle French urgent (“pressing, impelling”), from Latin urgēns, from urgēre (“to press”), from Proto-Indo-European *werǵʰ- (“bind, squeeze”). Equivalent to urge + -ent. Related to German würgen (“to strangle”), Lithuanian ver̃žti (“to string, tighten, constrict”), Russian (poetic) отверза́ть (otverzátʹ, “to open”, literally “to untie”), Polish otwierać (“to open”)) and English worry, wring, wreak, wreck.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.