English Language & Usage Asked by ratchet on December 23, 2020
“Urgency” comes close to what I want. For example, a painful sensation has urgency (may be more or less urgent), and may compel me sooner or later to change position, take aspirin, etc. Similarly, a full bladder has a quality that compels an obvious response.
What I don’t like about “urgency” is the emphasis on how soon the response needs to come.
I like “exigent”, except, as with “urgent”, there seems to be emphasis on timeliness. Also, there doesn’t seem to be a word for how exigent something might be (“exigency” means that which is required not how much something is required). Another problem is that “exigent” also means “requiring or calling for much” which is not what I want.
“Demanding” is good, but “demandingness”??
“Pressing” (and ?”pressingness”) and “imperative” (?”imperativeness) are also near what I want. “Priority” too is close, but I think is better used to describe a property of tasks rather than perceptions or thoughts. Also, “priority” emphasizes the ordering of competing options, which is not what I want.
I would like to say something like, “The thought of one’s own death has great urgency, even though there is nothing to be done about it,” but I don’t like “urgency” here because I don’t want to highlight how soon it needs to be done, rather, how much something needs to be done.
Edit: To clarify in response to comments below, I am mainly interested in a noun that names a property or quality of some mental phenomenon (thoughts, sensations, emotions). Adjectives would then be applied to the property.
To give a concrete example, ‘height’ (a noun) is a property of a person. A person’s height could be tall or short (adjectives). Likewise, an emotion might have urgency. Its urgency could be urgent or not urgent.
"warrants" (verb): justify or necessitate (a certain course of action)
Example: His question warranted a response from the people.
Answered by Mark-Anthony Bryan on December 23, 2020
Perhaps compelling.
Thought about one's own death are compelling.
From Dictionary:
Compelling: tending to compel, as to force or push toward a course of action; overpowering: There were compelling reasons for their divorce.
Answered by S Conroy on December 23, 2020
Have you considered jog, as in 'to jog one's memory'?
From Dictionary.com:
to push slightly, as to arouse the attention; nudge;
to stir or jolt into activity or alertness, as by a hint or reminder
Answered by Joachim on December 23, 2020
Thoughts, emotions, and feelings may not have a height but they have weight:
the ability of someone or something to influence decisions or actions —Lexico/Oxford
Answered by Laurel on December 23, 2020
I don't want to highlight how soon it needs to be done, rather, how much something needs to be done.
In many companies, I've seen a chart that plots urgency against importance:
1 a : the quality or state of being important : CONSEQUENCE
1 b : an important aspect or bearing : SIGNFICANCE
In other words:
The thought of one's own death has great importance, even though there is nothing to be done about it.
Note that a synonym of urgent is pressing, so neither it nor the suggested pressingness can really be what's sought here. If the question seeks an answer that avoids urgent, it also needs to avoid that synonym. (And saying that it's actually close to what's sought is an odd statement.)
Answered by Jason Bassford on December 23, 2020
I think one or more of desire, impulse, or intensity may be applicable.
From Google (perhaps from Dictionaries from Oxford Languages):
Desire
noun: desire; plural noun: desires
a strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen.
"a desire to work in the dirt with your bare hands"
Impulse
noun: impulse; plural noun: impulses
a sudden strong and unreflective urge or desire to act.
"I had an almost irresistible impulse to giggle"
Intensity
noun
noun: intensity; plural noun: intensities
1. the quality of being intense.
"the pain grew in intensity"
2. the measurable amount of a property, such as force, brightness, or a magnetic field.
"hydrothermal processes of low intensity"
Answered by Jacob on December 23, 2020
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