An urgent need or demand that requires immediate attention or action.
From Latin exigentia, derived from exigere meaning 'to demand' or 'to drive out.' The prefix ex- means 'out' and agere means 'to drive,' so the word originally meant the act of driving something out, evolving to mean pressing demands.
During emergencies, we say things are 'exigent' — but the word's root suggests something being forcefully driven out, which perfectly captures how crises feel like urgent demands being thrust upon us.
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