Imminent means about to happen very soon, usually within moments or hours. When something is imminent, it's practically here already, certain to occur at any moment. Dark storm clouds rolling in suggest that rain is imminent. When your teacher says the quiz is imminent, it means the quiz is happening very soon.

The word carries a sense of urgency and inevitability. You can't really stop something imminent, only prepare for it. A doctor might tell a patient that surgery is imminent. A news reporter might say that a decision from the jury is imminent. In both cases, the message is clear: this is happening very, very soon.

People sometimes confuse imminent with eminent (meaning famous or distinguished), but they're completely different words. Remember that imminent relates to time: if something is imminent, time is running out. When someone says danger is imminent, they mean you need to act immediately, not later.