''eminent'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''eminent'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260331180822-00-⌔

eminent - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Adjective

eminent (comparative more eminent, superlative most eminent)

• Noteworthy, remarkable, great.
  • ✤ Synonyms: remarkable, outstanding; see also Thesaurus: notable
  • ✤ His eminent good sense has been a godsend to this project.
• (of a person) Distinguished, important, noteworthy.
  • ✤ Synonyms: distinguished, noteworthy; esteemed, valued; see also Thesaurus: notable, Thesaurus: revered
  • ✤ In later years, the professor became known as an eminent historian.
  • ✤ Why did the eminent Italian writer Primo Levi die in the shocking way he did?¹
  • ✤ “So. Miss Alice. Are you game?” The question is posed by an eminent novelist of about 70, who has sat on a Manhattan park bench and struck up conversation with a young woman reading a book.²
• (archaic) High, lofty.
  • ✤ Synonyms: towering, prominent; see also Thesaurus: tall

Etymology

From Middle French éminent, from Latin present participle ēminēns, ēminentis, from verb ēmineō (“to project, protrude”), from ex- (“out of, from”) + mineō, related to mons (English mount). Compare with imminent. Unrelated to emanate, which is instead from mānō (“to flow”). Displaced native Old English deal.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɛmɪnənt/
• Audio (US): 🔊
• Homophones: imminent, immanent (pin–pen merger)

Printed 2026-06-28.

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Footnotes

1. 1988 December 19, William Styron, “Why Primo Levi Need Not Have Died”, in The New York Times ‎${}^{[1]}$, →ISSN, archived from the original on 29 August 2022: ↩

2. 2018 February 28, Justine Jordan, “Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday review – a dizzying debut”, in The Guardian ‎${}^{[2]}$: ↩

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