adjective
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liable to happen soon; impending
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obsolete jutting out or overhanging
Related Words
Imminent, Impending, Threatening all may carry the implication of menace, misfortune, disaster, but they do so in differing degrees. Imminent may portend evil: an imminent catastrophe, but also may mean simply “about to happen”: The merger is imminent. Impending has a weaker sense of immediacy and threat than imminent : Real tax relief legislation is impending, but it too may be used in situations portending disaster: impending social upheaval; to dread the impending investigation. Threatening almost always suggests ominous warning and menace: a threatening sky just before the tornado struck.
Other Word Forms
- imminence noun
- imminently adverb
- imminentness noun
- unimminent adjective
Etymology
Origin of imminent
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin imminent- (stem of imminēns ), present participle of imminēre “to overhang,” equivalent to im- im- 1 + -min- from a base meaning “jut out, project, rise” ( eminent, mount 2 ) + -ent- -ent
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.
That may explain why surcharges aren’t necessarily imminent.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026
In all three states, a defendant arguing self-defense must show that they were responding to a reasonable fear of imminent danger to justify the shooting.
From Slate • Mar. 27, 2026
The phone would have been included in the imminent disclosure of all messages connected to that decision, which McSweeney pushed for despite concerns about Lord Mandelson's links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
The Philippines declared an energy state of emergency due to the imminent danger of critically low supply.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
In writing his letter to this new Lord Cheldthorpe, 03-01 seemed most sanguine about the prospects of His Lordship’s acquiescence and imminent financial gain.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
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.
