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PlainSpell

urge

/ɝd͡ʒ/noun, verb

urge is spelled U-R-G-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, urge means “A strong desire to do something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of urge is urges.

How many letters and syllables are in urge?

Letters4: U-R-G-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing13 times per million words; the 5,957th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is urge?

Urge appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,957th 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 urge?

  • UK /ɜːd͡ʒ/
  • British /əːd͡ʒ/
  • US /ɝd͡ʒ/

Urge has one syllable (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-urge.wav, En-us-urge.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with urge?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as urge from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹdʒ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: grue.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of urge

  • urges plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • urging participle, present
  • urged participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

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

What does urge mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A strong desire to do something.

    After seeing the advert for a soft drink, I had a sudden urge to buy a bottle.

verb

  1. 1

    To press; to push; to drive; to impel; to force onward.

  2. 2

    To put mental pressure on; to ply with motives, arguments, persuasion, or importunity.

    My boss urged me to reconsider my decision to leave the company, even offering a pay rise.

  3. 3

    To provoke; to exasperate.

  4. 4

    To press hard upon; to follow closely.

  5. 5

    To present in an urgent manner; to insist upon.

    to urge an argument; to urge the necessity of a case

  6. 6

    obsoleteTo treat with forcible means; to take severe or violent measures with.

    to urge an ore with intense heat

  7. 7

    To press onward or forward.

  8. 8

    To be pressing in argument; to insist; to persist.

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

Urge in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpulsion, envie (a strong desire; an itch to do something), pousser, inciter (to press, push, drive), provoquer (to provoke), insister (to be pressing in argument; to insist)
GermanDrang (a strong desire; an itch to do something), drängen, mahnen, treiben (to press, push, drive), provozieren (to provoke), anspornen (to press the mind or will of)
Portuguesecomichão, ânsia (a strong desire; an itch to do something), impelir (to press, push, drive), provocar (to provoke), urgir (to press the mind or will of), apressar (to press onward or forward)
Spanishgana, ganas (a strong desire; an itch to do something), urgir, aguijonear, apresurar, apremiar (to press, push, drive)

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 urge come from?

From Latin urgeō (“urge”).

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

What to look up after urge