imminent
/ˈɪmɪnənt/
"imminent" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“imminent” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,724 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #11,724
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - About to happen, occur, or take place very soon, especially of something which won't last long.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | imminent |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɪmɪnənt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #11,724 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “imminent” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for imminent is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɪmɪnənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,724 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "About to happen, occur, or take place very soon, especially of something which won't last long.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for imminent, with forms such as "imimnent", "iminent", and "immiennt". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the present participle of Latin imminēre (“to overhang”), from mineō ("to project, overhang"), related to minae (English menace) and mons (English mount). Compare with eminent. The correct English form is imminent, spelled I-M-M-I-N-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1About to happen, occur, or take place very soon, especially of something which won't last long.
Etymology
From the present participle of Latin imminēre (“to overhang”), from mineō ("to project, overhang"), related to minae (English menace) and mons (English mount). Compare with eminent.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: imimnent,iminent,immiennt,imminennt,imminentt,imminetn,imminnent,imminnet,immnient,miminent
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of imminent - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “imminent”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-M-M-I-N-E-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɪmɪnənt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.