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View synonyms for imminent

imminent

[ im-uh-nuhnt ]

adjective

  1. likely to occur at any moment; impending:

    Her death is imminent.

    Synonyms: near, at hand

    Antonyms: remote, distant

  2. projecting or leaning forward; overhanging.


imminent

/ ˈɪmɪnənt /

adjective

  1. liable to happen soon; impending
  2. obsolete.
    jutting out or overhanging
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • ˈimminence, noun
  • ˈimminently, adverb
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Other Words From

  • im·mi·nent·ly adverb
  • im·mi·nent·ness noun
  • un·im·mi·nent adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of imminent1

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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of imminent1

C16: from Latin imminēre to project over, from im- (in) + -minēre to project; related to mons mountain
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Synonym Study

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.
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Example Sentences

Gävle Goat must be dreading the imminent holiday and his fifty-fifty chance of destruction.

Yet, the ever-visionary Van Gogh still feels the possibility of acclaim after his imminent death.

Its arrival, experts say, is not just inevitable but imminent.

When crawling and walking are imminent, I talk with parents about getting the house ready.

The only exception is military action to repel an imminent attack.

William has thus been happily able to report to the society the approaching conversion of M'Bongo and his imminent civilization.

They tobogganed down hills without a brake at the imminent peril of their lives.

Altogether, we spent five consecutive days hovering around that collection of law-enforcers, in imminent risk of capture.

Fresh light may be shed on the matter by the battle now imminent, but I am cabling on reasoned existing facts.

Yet he kept on, hoping against imminent death itself that his words would reach some willing ear.

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