Definition of EXIGENT (original) (raw)

: requiring immediate aid or action

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Exigent is a formal word with meanings closely tied to its Latin forbear, exigere, meaning "to demand." Exigent things and people demand attention—for example, an exigent client expects so much that they are hard to satisfy, and exigent circumstances are so significant that they can be used to justify certain police actions without the warrant typically required. Before exigent joined the language in the early 1600s, the noun exigency was being used to refer to something that is necessary in a particular situation—for example, the exigencies of an emergency situation might require that certain usual precautions be ignored. That word dates to the late 1500s, but even earlier, in the mid-1400s, exigence was on the scene doing the same job. All three words—exigent, exigency, and _exigence_—continue to meet the demands of English users, albeit not frequently in everyday conversation.

Synonyms

Examples of exigent in a Sentence

started his workday with a flood of exigent matters that required his quick decision

Recent Examples on the Web

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That law does not tightly define the circumstances under which presidents may determine that an emergency exists, leaving them with essentially unfettered discretion to unlock exigent powers for themselves. —Charlie Savage, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2025 And alongside that scary term, one exigent factor comes in for a lot of blame: the impending end to billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief money, all of which must be spent by 2026. —David Greising, Chicago Tribune, 17 Jan. 2025 Advertisement Still, Bass is not the first California political leader to lead in absentia during a moment of exigent crisis. —Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2025 Notably, the consent decree requires residential search warrants to be served between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., absent exigent circumstances that an officer includes in the application. —Connor Giffin, The Courier-Journal, 13 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for exigent