Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of high rank, station, or quality; noteworthy: eminent members of the community.
- adj. Outstanding, as in character or performance; distinguished: an eminent historian. See Synonyms at noted.
- adj. Towering or standing out above others; prominent: an eminent peak.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Prominent; standing out above other things; high; lofty.
- High in rank, office, worth, or public estimation; conspicuous; highly distinguished: said of a person or of his position: as, an eminent station; an eminent historian or poet. It is rarely used in a bad sense.
- Conspicuous; such as to attract attention; manifest: as, the judge's charge was characterized by eminent fairness; an eminent example of the uncertainty of circumstantial evidence.
- Supreme; controlling; unrestrained by higher right or authority: chiefly in the phrase eminent domain (which see, under domain). Synonyms Elevated.
- In mineralogy, highly perfect: said of cleavage.
Wiktionary
- adj. high, lofty; towering; prominent.
- adj. noteworthy. remarkable, great
- adj. of a person, distinguished, important, noteworthy
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. High; lofty; towering; prominent.
- adj. Being, metaphorically, above others, whether by birth, high station, merit, or virtue; high in public estimation; distinguished; conspicuous.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. of imposing height; especially standing out above others
- adj. standing above others in quality or position
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Latin ēminēns, ēminent-, present participle of ēminēre, to stand out : ē-, ex-, ex- + -minēre, to jut out; see men-2 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“God has the ideas in an eminent manner (˜eminent™ is discussed further below), and these ideas are the objects of His thought.”
“Of course, the final Chinese “advantage” appears to be a very fast, cheap, and certain eminent domain process: just bribe a few officials and send hired thugs to kick the people out of their homes and businesses.”
“He called the eminent feminist author Kate Millett "big tits" and tried to kiss her before the live show was taken off air and replaced with a grainy documentary about coal mining.”
“The use of private contractors to develop property taken in eminent domain shall not be construed or interpreted as a commercial venture or other prohibited taking, if the final disposition of the property is for the direct use of the People.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Help Draft the Federalism Restoration Amendment
“The ones who stood firm had their homes bulldozed and received nothing.5 This is known as eminent domain.”
“Supreme Court decision gives government broad latitude in eminent domain cases if taking property provides a public benefit.”
N.H. voters opt to curb eminent domain; smaller House districts also at stake
“The same is true of the amicus briefs in eminent domain litigation.”
“Is it impossible to mention the role of the government in eminent domain without being Republican propaganda?”
“The case of course was “Kelo vs. New London”, which perverted the Constitution by interpreting the 5th Amendment to mean property which is transferred from one private owner to another counts as “public use” in eminent domain.”
“A certain eminent Rabbi had spoken over the radio rather disparagingly of what is called the Christian Spirit.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘eminent’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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3/4 year Vocab List
garbled, verbose, behoove, runt, douse, stipulate, condolence, incongruous, mundane, euphemism, brusque, labyrinth and 96 more...
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3/4 year Vocab List
lackluster, reprimand, loathe, abhor, willful, ample, tremulous, ominous, subtle, rescind, redundant, pretentious and 96 more...
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jaydrox's list
Mah list!
mediocracy, captivatingly, devastatingly, dazedly, heavenly, flawless, copious, conviction, synoptic, amalgamation, prefatory, precursory and 150 more...
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[Open] Frequently confused and misused
Words that are often used to mean something other than what they mean to lexicographers.
apprehensible, immanent, eminent, seamen, venal, venial, brassiere, brassier, brasserie, brazier, brasier, elegy and 38 more...
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SAT words
tergiversate, cymotrichous, vigilance, wince, consternation, cower, neutralize, euphony, cacophony, misanthrope, bibliophile, kleptomania and 81 more...
Dan337
Please follow the link for handy mnemonics and more usage notes. Jan 1, 2011