improvise

[im-pruh-vahyz]

verb (used with object)

improvised, improvising 

1. to compose and perform or deliver without previous preparation; extemporize.

   to improvise an acceptance speech.

2. to compose, play, recite, or sing (verse, music, etc.) on the spur of the moment.

3. to make, provide, or arrange from whatever materials are readily available.

   We improvised a dinner from yesterday's leftovers.

verb (used without object)

improvised, improvising 

1. to compose, utter, execute, or arrange anything extemporaneously.

   When the actor forgot his lines he had to improvise.

improvise

/ ˈɪmprəˌvaɪz /

verb

1. to perform or make quickly from materials and sources available, without previous planning

2. to perform (a poem, play, piece of music, etc), composing as one goes along

Other Word Forms

• improviser noun
• improvisor noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of improvise¹

First recorded in 1820–30; from French improviser, or its source, Italian improvisare (later improvvisare ), verbal derivative of improviso “improvised,” from Latin imprōvīsus, equivalent to im- “un-” + prōvīsus, past participle of prōvidēre “to see beforehand, prepare, provide for (a future circumstance)”; im- ², proviso

Word History and Origins

Origin of improvise¹

C19: from French, from Italian improvvisare, from Latin imprōvīsus unforeseen, from _im- (not) + prōvīsus, from prōvidēre to foresee; see _provide

Example Sentences

Men carry buckets of water for the communal kitchens and improvised latrines while women stir massive pots over open flames.

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She also cooked up the idea to improvise some Elvish, the fictional language of J. R. R. Tolkien’s novels.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Puppets have an immediacy that also makes them fun to perform with and to improvise with.”

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Therefore I propose that someone with a keen sense of the theatrical, a talent for mimicry and improvising dialogue—a playwright, perhaps?—be engaged as an understudy to the ghost, as it were.”

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Then comes the question: improvise, pantry-first, “Chopped” style, or follow a recipe?

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• ad-lib 
• brainstorm 
• concoct 
• contrive 
• devise 
• dream up 
• invent 
• throw together