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exigent

/ˈɛk.sɪ.d͡ʒənt/adjective

exigent is spelled E-X-I-G-E-N-T: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 75,877th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, exigent means “Urgent; pressing; needing immediate action” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in exigent?

Letters7: E-X-I-G-E-N-T
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 6 million words; the 75,877th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is exigent?

Exigent appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 75,877th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce exigent?

  • US /ˈɛk.sɪ.d͡ʒənt/
  • US /ˈɛɡ.zɪ.d͡ʒənt/

Exigent has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-exigent.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of exigent

  • more exigent comparative
  • most exigent superlative
  • exigeant

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does exigent mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Urgent; pressing; needing immediate action.

  2. 2

    Demanding; requiring great effort.

noun

  1. 1

    archaicExtremity; end; limit; pressing urgency.

  2. 2

    archaicThe amount that is required.

  3. 3

    UKobsoleteA writ in proceedings before outlawry.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Exigent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchurgent, pressant (urgent; needing immediate action), exigeant (demanding; needing great effort)
Germandringend, dringlich, ernst (urgent; needing immediate action), anspruchsvoll (demanding; needing great effort)
Portugueseexigente (urgent; needing immediate action)
Spanishurgente (urgent; needing immediate action), exigente (demanding; needing great effort)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does exigent come from?

From Latin exigēns, present active participle of exigō (“demand, require”). Doublet of exigeant.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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