urgent
ur·gent/ˈɝ.d͡ʒənt/adjective
urgent is spelled U-R-G-E-N-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables (ur·gent). It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,595th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, urgent means “Requiring immediate attention” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in urgent?
| Letters | 6: U-R-G-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ur·gent |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,595th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 urgent?
Urgent appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,595th 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 urgent?
- UK /ˈɜː.d͡ʒənt/
- US /ˈɝ.d͡ʒənt/
Urgent has 2 syllables, split ur·gent in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-urgent.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with urgent?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as urgent from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹdʒənt/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: gunter.
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 urgent
- more urgent comparative
- most urgent superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does urgent mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Requiring immediate attention.
An urgent appeal was sent out for assistance.
- 2
Of people: insistent, solicitous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Urgent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense requiring immediate attention:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | urgent |
| German | dringend, dringlich, eilig |
| Portuguese | urgente |
| Spanish | urgente, acuciante, apremiante, apremiar |
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 urgent come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).