ENGLISH
REFERENCE

urgent

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈɝdʒənt// UK //ˈɜːdʒənt// ur·gent General-service

adj. needing attention or action right away. You use this when something is too important to wait.

adj. requiring immediate action or attention. Often used to describe a pressing need or a situation that cannot be delayed.


SIMPLE

I have an urgent message for the manager.

CONTEXTUAL

The hospital staff responded to the urgent call as soon as the patient arrived in the emergency room.

COMPLEX

The report highlights an urgent need for infrastructure reform, warning that further delays could lead to a total system failure within the decade.

Synonyms
Origin

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.

Usage

Typically used before a noun or after a linking verb like 'be' or 'become'.

Pitfall

I need an urgent helpI need urgent helpWhen modifying uncountable nouns like 'help' or 'advice', the adjective does not take an indefinite article.

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