- present participle of impend.
impending
Americanadjective
-
about to happen; imminent.
their impending marriage.
-
imminently threatening or menacing.
an impending storm.
-
Archaic. overhanging.
adjective
Synonym Usage
See imminent.
Etymology
Origin of impending
Explanation
If something is impending, it is about to happen. If you hear thunder in the distance, you might go inside to escape the impending storm. The word impending often refers to something threatening or frightening: impending doom, impending disaster. Something that is impending hangs over you — you might say, "I was so distracted by thoughts of my impending failure in my exams, I couldn't study." A synonym is imminent.
Vocabulary lists containing impending
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 4
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Things Fall Apart
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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.
The 61-year-old, a previous president of the UN General Assembly, has suggested creating an "early warning" system to detect and flag signs of impending conflict.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
It’s a small individual resistance to the impending destruction of the desert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The student was carrying an anti-AI document with a section on “our impending extinction,” according to a federal criminal complaint.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Meanwhile, manosphere-adjacent influencers like Andrew Huberman have discussed declining male sperm counts on their podcasts, with Joe Rogan warning of an impending "population collapse".
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
But that boom came much too late to prepare Native Americans of the United States for the impending disaster of European colonization.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
