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.
Maestre's imminent arrival is likely to be paired with the appointments of other staff members, including analysts and medical experts.
From BBC
The ShakeAlert system that warns about imminent shaking arriving from earthquakes sent a false alarm across California on Thursday morning for a magnitude 5.9 temblor that did not happen.
From Los Angeles Times
Despite a flurry of high-level meetings in recent weeks, there have been no clear signals of imminent resolutions to key hurdles on ending the nearly four-year war.
From Barron's
Part of the reason why student loans can hang on for so long is because borrowers get discouraged and are occupied by other, more imminent needs.
From MarketWatch
Part of the reason why student loans can hang on for so long is because borrowers get discouraged and are occupied by other, more imminent needs.
From MarketWatch
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.
