Master confusing words with ease
Impending vs. Pending
Impending
Examples:
The dark clouds signal an impending storm.An impending deadline loomed over the students.We felt an impending sense of change in the air.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Pending
Examples:
The merger approval is pending regulatory review.All applications are still pending in our system.His response is pending due to ongoing deliberations.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
- Impending often has a sense of urgency or inevitability, signaling something negative is about to happen.
- Pending indicates something is waiting or undecided, without the urgent or ominous connotation.
- Remember: im in impending could stand for immediate in terms of arriving or occurring soon.
- Pending can relate to situations that are on hold more so than those about to happen imminently.
- Think of pending as a placeholder, while impending suggests arrival.
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