adjective
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liable to happen soon; impending
-
obsolete jutting out or overhanging
Synonym Usage
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
Derived Forms
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” ( cf. eminent, mount 2) + -ent- -ent
Explanation
Something that is imminent is just about to happen: if you light a firecracker and then stick it down your pants, a very bad situation is imminent. Imminent is from Latin imminere, "to overhang," and to say that something is imminent is to say that it is hanging over you and about to fall, in a metaphorical way. If you take your mom’s car and drive it into the mailbox, getting grounded is imminent. You don’t want that hanging over your head!
Vocabulary lists containing imminent
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 2
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Othello
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ACT Vocabulary List
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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.
Gov Abbott issued a proclamation declaring a state of disaster on Friday, which states the outbreak presents "an imminent threat or occurrence of widespread danger and injury to the Texas agricultural industry".
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
—Oil prices slipped in early trading, but are headed for weekly gains as renewed tensions in the Middle East damped hopes for an imminent, gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
Outwardly, she shows no signs of being devastated by her dad’s imminent passing, happily playing with him, almost in denial of his fate.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
However, analysts said the company does not appear to be in imminent danger of liquidating its bitcoin holdings.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 4, 2026
This was her speech in his mouth, and Linda just sat there, staring at her hands in her lap, a sense of imminent disaster riding like ice through her bones.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
