improvisation
Americannoun
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improvisations
plural
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the art or act of improvising, or of composing, uttering, executing, or arranging anything without previous preparation.
Musical improvisation involves imagination and creativity.
-
something improvised.
The actor's improvisation in Act II was both unexpected and amazing.
noun
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the act or an instance of improvising
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a product of improvising; something improvised
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of improvisation
Explanation
Improvisation is making it up as you go along, like taking a long stroll with no destination in mind and walking down random streets for the fun of it. Making choices that aren’t planned ahead of time, that’s improvisation. Jazz musicians are masters of improvisation, creating saxophone solos off the top of their heads based on what they feel in the moment. The Latin word improvisus means “unforeseen,” and improvisation happens when you can’t see the end goal but you keep moving ahead, dealing with obstacles in a creative way.
Vocabulary lists containing improvisation
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Dwight D. Eisenhower, "The Military-Industrial Complex" (1961)
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Theater - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Its response surprised him: It suggested a “household manager”—a part-time human employee—to handle “camp registration races, sick-day improvisation and the 10 judgment calls a week that no system will get right.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Messi's genius has always been rooted in improvisation.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
At a moment when technology promises ever-greater efficiency, “The Bear” makes a quieter if tenacious case for the value of people: their improvisation, intuition and stubborn belief that something worth doing is worth doing well.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
He well understood the city’s brightness, harshness, improvisation and fractured essence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
This chapter addresses children’s creativity, and introduces different types of children’s musical play and their associated repertoires as well as ideas for children’s improvisation.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Unlike the Grateful Dead or Phish, who are known for their rangy improvisations, one Styles concert is usually not that different from the next.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
His contrapuntal beats lend context to tenor saxophonist Billy Pierce’s abstract improvisations; his laid-back rim shots ground pianist Johnny O’Neal’s lyrical lines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2025
Slattery was known and loved for his quick-witted improvisations on the popular Channel 4 show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, from 1988 onwards.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2025
Perttu Kesäniemi and Mikko Ojanen recorded the artists' vocal and instrumental improvisations at the University of Helsinki Music Research Laboratory, and digitally added the acoustics of selected sites to them.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
She would whisper in her Uncle Marcos’s ear, and he in turn would transmit the message to the client, along with any improvisations of his own that he thought pertinent.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
