hastende

Hastende is a Danish adjective and present participle formed from the verb haste, meaning to hurry. It describes something that requires quick action or urgent attention. As a modifier, hastende can describe matters, conditions, or actions, for example a hastende sag (an urgent matter), hastende forhold (pressing conditions), or hastende tilstand (urgent condition). It can also be used predicatively: Sagen er hastende (the matter is urgent).

The nuance of hastende centers on timeliness and the need for prompt response, rather than on danger or severity alone. It is often used in administrative, legal, and healthcare contexts to signal that delay is undesirable and that rapid handling is expected. In healthcare, hastende is commonly seen in phrases referring to urgent or emergency care, such as hastende patient or hastende behandling, though more specific medical terms like akut are also used depending on the degree of urgency.

Etymologically, hastende is built from haste meaning to hurry, with the participle suffix -ende, a common formation for adjectives in Danish. The word agrees with nouns in gender and number, and can be used both attributively and predicatively; for example, et hastende behov (an urgent need) or behovet er hastende (the need is urgent).

In summary, hastende denotes urgency and the need for swift action, spanning contexts from everyday matters to formal procedures, and stands as a flexible descriptor of how quickly attention or intervention is required. Related terms include presserende and akut, though each carries its own nuance regarding urgency and context.