urgency
/ˈɝ.d͡ʒən.si/noun
urgency is spelled U-R-G-E-N-C-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, urgency means “The quality or condition of being urgent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of urgency is urgencies.
How many letters and syllables are in urgency?
| Letters | 7: U-R-G-E-N-C-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 13,897th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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 urgency?
Urgency appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th 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 urgency?
- UK /ˈɜː.d͡ʒən.si/
- US /ˈɝ.d͡ʒən.si/
Urgency 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-urgency.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with urgency?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as urgency from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹdʒənsi/):
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 urgency
- urgencies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does urgency mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality or condition of being urgent.
the urgency of a demand
- 2
Insistence, pressure, urge.
I have this sudden urgency to use the toilet.
- 3
A sudden and compelling need to urinate that is difficult to defer, associated with conditions such as urinary tract infections and overactive bladder.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Urgency in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense quality or condition of being urgent:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | urgence |
| German | Dringlichkeit |
| Portuguese | urgência |
| Spanish | urgencia, premura, apremio, perentoriedad |
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 urgency come from?
From urgent + -ency or Latin urgentia.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).