Word.ws English Dictionary

exigent

/ˈɛk.sɪ.d͡ʒənt/

exigent adjective: urgent; pressing; needing immediate action.

Adjective

exigent (comparative more exigent, superlative most exigent)

  1. Urgent; pressing; needing immediate action.
    • Article 2 also provides that acts of torture cannot be justified on the grounds of exigent circumstances, such as state of war or public emergency, or on orders from a superior officer or public authority.2003, Working Group Report on Detainee Interrogations, U.S. Department of Defence
  2. Demanding; requiring great effort.

Noun

exigent (plural exigents)

  1. (archaic) Extremity; end; limit; pressing urgency.
    • Theſe Eyes, like Lampes, whoſe waſting Oyle is ſpent, / Waxe dimme, as drawing to their Exigent.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • Therefore as one complaineth, that always in the Senate of Rome [Cicero 5° de finibus.], there was one or other that called for an interpreter: ſo leſt the Church be driuen to the like exigent, it is neceſſary to haue tranſlations in a readineſſe.1611, [Miles Smith], “The Translators to the Reader”, in The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC
  2. (archaic) The amount that is required.
    • [H]is enterprise / Marked out anew, its exigent of wit / Apportioned, she at liberty to sit / And scheme against the next emergence, […]1840 March, Robert Browning, “Book the Third”, in Sordello, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 102
  3. (UK, obsolete) A writ in proceedings before outlawry.
    • They also make forthe writs of executions, and of seifin, writs of super seders, for appearance to exigents1607, John Cowell, The Interpreter

exigent meaning in Tamil and Bengali

exigent in Tamil

உடனடியான

exigent in Bengali

জরুরি, অতি আবশ্যক

Forms of exigent

Adjective
comparativemore exigent
superlativemost exigent
alternative formexigeant
Noun
pluralexigents

Origin of exigent

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

Words formed from exigent

Questions about exigent

What does exigent mean?
Exigent means urgent; pressing; needing immediate action.
What is exigent in Tamil?
Exigent in Tamil is உடனடியான. See Exigent meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is exigent?
Exigent can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce exigent?
Exigent is pronounced /ˈɛk.sɪ.d͡ʒənt/ (UK).

Words near exigent in the dictionary

  1. exigences
  2. exigencies
  3. exigency
  4. exigendaries
  5. exigendary
  6. exigent
  7. exigent circumstance
  8. exigenter
  9. exigenters
  10. exigently
  11. exigents

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: exigent (page history and authors); exigent (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Exigent (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “exigent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/exigent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.