emergent
Americanadjective
-
coming into view or notice; issuing.
-
emerging; emerging; rising from a liquid or other surrounding medium.
-
coming into existence, especially with political independence.
the emergent nations of Africa.
-
arising casually or unexpectedly.
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calling for immediate action; urgent.
-
Evolution. displaying emergence.
noun
adjective
-
coming into being or notice
an emergent political structure
-
(of a nation) recently independent
noun
Other Word Forms
- emergently adverb
- emergentness noun
- nonemergent adjective
- reemergent adjective
- unemergent adjective
Etymology
Origin of emergent
1350–1400; Middle English (< Middle French ) < Latin ēmergent- (stem of ēmergēns ) arising out of, present participle of ēmergere to emerge
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“To frame the discussion, 25 to 30 years ago, the key emergent risk was corporate credit risk,” he said, noting out that the U.S. federal government “actually ran some surpluses then.”
From MarketWatch
The narrative of “AI eating software” cropped up in late 2025, suggesting the emergent technology was rapidly replacing and automating tasks traditionally handled by software applications.
From Barron's
The monitor Netblocks said on Tuesday that "traffic on select platforms points to an emergent strategy of whitelisting", in which selected users, entities or services are allowed to bypass restrictions.
From Barron's
In that period, less severe medical diagnoses can become more emergent.
From Salon
Each emergent media platform is a delivery system for fresh makeover narratives.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
