Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. About to occur; impending: in imminent danger.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Overhanging; fixed pendently or so as to overlook; projecting from above.
- Hence Threatening or about to fall or to occur; impending threateningly; hanging over one's head.
Wiktionary
- adj. about to happen, occur, or take place very soon, especially of something which won't last long.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Threatening to occur immediately; near at hand; impending; -- said especially of misfortune or peril.
- adj. Full of danger; threatening; menacing; perilous.
- adj. rare (With
upon ) Bent upon; attentive to.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. close in time; about to occur
Etymologies
- From the present participle of Latin imminere ("to overhang"), from mineō, related to mons (English mount). Compare with eminent. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English iminent, from Old French imminent, from Latin imminēns, imminent-, present participle of imminēre, to overhang : in-, in; see in-2 + -minēre, to jut, threaten; see men-2 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“He used the term imminent because that is the legal requirement in the UN Charter, to which the US is a signatory and which is based upon the Nuremberg Charter established at the end of the Second World War.”
White House Lied About Iraqi Yellowcake Buy, But That's Not the Biggest Scandal
“Ever since the shooting we have heard a lot about mental illness, and specifically the term imminent danger.”
“With the new term imminent, the school's website says its location has yet to be finalised.”
“Since the federal government has failed absolutely to deal with the issue of illegal immigration and border security, my next guest proposes his own plan to handle what he calls the imminent invasion from Mexico.”
“For days, the military has publicized what they call the imminent start of Operation Mushtarak, the Dari word for Together.”
“And one hardly has to believe that Social Security is in imminent crisis to understand that it needs its revenue, and probably a bit more, to keep up promised payments starting in the 2040s.”
“The Communist governments of Hungary, Poland, and East Germany were in imminent danger of collapse.”
“Keep an eye on this one ... apparently Obama gave the order to shoot if the hostage was in "imminent danger".”
“I asked Dave Gallo, the director of special projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, whether the oceans are in imminent danger of sponge-related desertification.”
“We found that simultaneous and accelerating man-made threats are putting many fragile sites in imminent danger.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘imminent’.
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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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 4087 more...
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3/4 year Vocab List
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, awe, buffoon, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron and 96 more...
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3/4 year Vocab List
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, awe, buffoon, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron and 96 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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GRE
predilection, explicit, appeal, supplication, appealing, enchanting, ovation, pertinent, apropos, opportunely, applicable, germane and 381 more...
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Words-I-tend-to-forget
I have read them many times before and looked them up as well, and yet I forget their meaning. So, this list should collect them for me for revision.
glib, audacious, imminent, deflect, convention, calytrix, overbearing, regressive, condescending, crouch, impasse, agonistic and 11 more...
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GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1827 more...
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maf
sectarian, sectarian =narrow..., oppression, oppress, sort out, worldwide, legit, constrain, constrained, I feel constrained, constraint, divisive and 56 more...
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Hit Parade GRE
Princeton Review words
abscond, aberrant, alacrity, anomaly, approbation, arduous, assuage, audacious, austere, axiomatic, canonical, capricious and 287 more...
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1100 words you need to know
GRE words
voracious, indiscriminate, eminent, steeped, replete, abound, technology, prognosticate, automaton, matron, paradox, realm and 288 more...
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Words
Playa
schadenfreude, quixotic, serendipity, loquacious, ubiquitous, aforementioned, inherently, superfluous, dissonance, tersely, poignant, plethora and 108 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for imminent.
Dan337
Please follow the link for handy mnemonics and more usage notes. Jan 1, 2011