紧急
jǐnjí · HSK 3
urgent
🚨 紧 = tight/taut + 急 = hurried/anxious → tight + hurried = urgent
紧 carries the sense of tight or pressing; 急 means hurried or anxious. Together they describe a situation pressing in fast — something tight on time and hurried, i.e. urgent or critical.
紧 — 臣 minister + 又 hand on top + 糸 silk below
Originally written 緊, this character combines 臤 (a hand 又 grasping firmly, with 臣 as phonetic) over 糸 'silk thread'. The image is of silk threads pulled taut by hand, giving the core meaning 'tight, taut'. From there it extended to 'urgent' and 'pressing'.
急 — heart radical 心 + 及 (reach)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the heart radical 心 supplies the meaning (an emotional state) while 及 ('to reach, catch up') gives the sound. Originally it depicted a racing, anxious heart — hence the modern senses 'urgent,' 'hurried,' and 'impatient.'