Word to the Wise: Exigency
by ETR (04/18/2008)
An "exigency" (EK-sih-jun-see) is an emergency - a pressing or urgent situation that requires prompt action. The word is from the Latin for "to demand."
Example (as used by Douglas Martin in The New York Times): "The bride was radiant in a gown that had been twice altered to meet the exigencies of her pregnancy."