What does urgent mean?
Urgent is an adjective meaning that something requires immediate attention or action. It is used for problems, needs, requests, communications, and situations that cannot safely or practically be postponed. An urgent message, warning, or appeal conveys both the importance of the subject and the expectation that it be dealt with promptly. The word can also describe a tone or manner that communicates alarm or insistence, as in “an urgent voice.” In contemporary English, it generally suggests a clear priority rather than a casual personal preference, although context determines whether the urgency is routine or genuinely critical. Urgent is related to the noun urgency, which names the quality of being pressing or requiring prompt action, and to the adverb urgently. Its underlying idea is pressure: an urgent matter is one that presses for attention now.
adjectiveRequiring immediate attention or action; pressing and unable to be delayed. It can also describe a tone, voice, or request that conveys insistence or the need for prompt action.
- Requiring immediate attention, treatment, or action; pressing.
- Expressing insistence, alarm, or the need for something to be handled promptly.
"The hospital issued an urgent appeal for people with rare blood types to donate."
"The warning sounded urgent, so the crew immediately checked the equipment."
"She made an urgent request to the council, explaining that the repairs could not wait."
Urgent comes from Latin urgere, meaning “to press” or “drive”; its original force is wonderfully physical: something that presses for action.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does urgent come from?
Urgent entered English in the early 17th century, borrowed from French urgent and ultimately derived from the Latin urgere, “to press, drive, or urge.” The Latin participle urgent- conveyed the sense of pressing or compelling attention. The same root produced words such as urge and urgency, while forms such as emergent and insurgent preserve related Latin associations with arising or pressing forward.
Related word forms
How urgent is actually used
The word is common in formal, professional, and everyday contexts. It can suggest a genuine need for prompt action, but it is also used figuratively when a speaker wants to emphasize importance.
Easily confused with urgent
Urgent is an adjective describing something that requires immediate attention, whereas urgency is the noun meaning the quality of being pressing or urgent.