Translation guide
The quality of needing immediate action or attention. In Japanese, this concept is expressed through nouns, adjectives, and set phrases that convey a sense of pressing need, emergency, or lack of time.
To describe a situation that requires immediate action or attention, or the feeling that something must be done quickly.
The most common and direct translation for 'urgency' as a noun, often used in formal and official contexts like 'emergency' or 'urgent matter'.
緊急の用事で来られません。
I can't come due to an urgent matter.
これは緊急を要する問題だ。
This is a matter that requires urgency.
Emphasizes the quality or degree of urgency, often used in discussions about priorities or crisis management.
この問題の緊急性は高い。
The urgency of this issue is high.
Conveys a sense of imminence or pressing danger, often used for situations that are about to happen or are critically close.
状況の切迫を感じる。
I feel the urgency of the situation.
A common phrase meaning 'to require urgency' or 'to be urgent', used as a predicate.
この件は急を要する。
This matter is urgent.
To express the personal feeling of being rushed or under pressure to act quickly.
Refers to the feeling of impatience or agitation when one feels behind or rushed. Often used for personal emotional states.
焦りからミスをした。
I made a mistake out of a sense of urgency (haste).
彼の声には焦りが感じられた。
You could hear the urgency in his voice.
A sense of urgency or impending crisis, often used in psychological or descriptive contexts.
切迫感に駆られて行動した。
I acted driven by a sense of urgency.
To describe situations where there is not much time left and action must be taken immediately.
An adjective meaning 'pressing' or 'imminent', often used to describe urgent situations or deadlines.
差し迫った問題に対処する。
Deal with an urgent problem.
締め切りが差し迫っている。
The deadline is pressing (urgent).
A very common and natural way to express urgency in everyday conversation, literally 'there is no time'.
時間がないから急ごう。
We're short on time, so let's hurry.
To describe how urgency is conveyed in speech, writing, or requests.
Refers to tension or urgency in atmosphere or tone, often used for serious, strained situations.
緊迫した声で話した。
He spoke with an urgent tone.
A prefix meaning 'urgent' or 'express', used for mail, tasks, etc.
緊急 (kinkyū) refers to the objective state of urgency (emergency), while 焦り (aseri) refers to the subjective feeling of being rushed or flustered. Use 緊急 for situations, 焦り for emotions.
The English word 'urgency' does not have a single perfect equivalent in Japanese. Avoid using 緊急性 in casual conversation; it sounds overly formal. In daily speech, rephrase using phrases like 急がないと (we must hurry) or 時間がない (there's no time).
状況の緊急性から、私たちは行動せざるを得なかった。
The urgency of the situation forced us to act.
彼は切迫感を持って話した。
He spoke with a sense of urgency.
An idiomatic phrase meaning 'to race against time', used for extremely urgent situations where every moment counts.
一刻を争う事態だ。
It's a situation of extreme urgency.