Words at Play : Top 10 Commonly Confused Words, Vol. 2

#7: Imminent/Eminent

Question:

Is danger imminent or eminent?

Answer:

imminent

How to remember it:

Think of the first syllables of immediately and imminent to remember that imminent means "about to occur" – often in a threatening sense.

Eminent means "prominent" or "famous."

As it happens, these words have a shared root: -minent comes from a Latin word meaning "to project" or "to stand out." In imminent, this root originally suggested something like a threatening overhang above your head; in eminent it suggested something conspicuous.

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