The two adjectives “impending” and “pending” both qualify something about to happen or conclude. (“Pending” also has a prepositional sense, but here we’re only concerned with its adjectival sense.)
“Impending” portends bad news: what’s about to happen is bad, evil, or harmful. If you already know that you’ll lose a case, then you may dread the “impending” court judgment.
In this respect, “impending” resembles “looming,” which has an equally unhappy connotation. Thus, “impending” carries a note of dread.
It suggests something menacing, threatening, or unwelcome. The word bears the weight of foreboding: phrases like “impending disaster,” “impending doom,” “impending storm,”“impending war” are its natural contextual and syntactic habitats.
By contrast, “pending” is neutral: what’s about to happen or end may be good, bad, or indifferent. It signifies something awaiting decision, resolution, or completion.
None of the following phrases bears a negative or even positive connotation: “pending lawsuit,” “pending transaction,” “pending appointment.”
The outcome in each case may be favorable, unfavorable, neutral, or trivial. A pending court case, for example, could end in victory or defeat.
Most dictionaries don’t note this vital connotational distinction. As an attorney, you should observe it—attorneys should know better than dictionaries.
Don’t speak of your “impending departure” when you mean you’re about to go cruising in the Caribbean. “Impending departure” suggests you’re about to die—don’t be in a hurry, we need you here.
Another point of difference between the two adjectives is that “pending,” generally but not universally, connotes something that’s already begun but yet to end, while “impending” typically encompasses something that’s yet to begin.
A case is “pending” because it has been filed. A payment is “pending” because it has been initiated. The word implies delay or incompletion within a process in motion.
“Impending,” on the other hand, usually refers to a future event that has not yet begun—but whose approach feels inevitable and unwelcome.
An “impending” crisis has not erupted, but the signs are ominous. An “impending” deadline has not yet struck, but the pressure mounts.
