Dictionary

improvise en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈɪm.pɹə.vaɪz/

Etymology

From French improviser; ultimately from Latin improvisus.

Meanings

1. To make something up or invent it as one goes on; to proceed guided only by imagination, intuition, and guesswork rather than by a careful plan.
   • They improvised a simple shelter with branches and the rope they were carrying.
   • She improvised a lovely solo.
   • As this terrible emotion took charge of him, he found himself improvising a whole series of lovers for her, imagining them to be waiting around every corner. 1988, Salman Rushdie, chapter V, in The Satanic Verses, page 334:
   • He had no speech prepared, so he improvised.
   • We have improvised the most charming party imaginable. The summer has come back by surprise. I own I wonder that June was not tired of us: still here is a day so sunny, that October does not know its own. The Duke of Wharton, Lord Hervey, and some two or three others, have designed a water-party in our honour. 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Another London Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 173:

Forms

Deriveds

improvisatory · improvisational · improvision · improvisable · improvisation · improvisor · improvisator

Relateds

off the cuff · impromptu · extemporaneous

Synonyms

fly by the seat of one's pants · wing it · punt · think on one's feet · play by ear

Translations (45)

cmn 即興 /即兴 (to make something up as one goes on) · fi sepittää (to make something up as one goes on) · ar اِرْتَجَلَ (to make something up as one goes on) · he אַלְתֵּר (to make something up as one goes on) · ga seiftigh (to make something up as one goes on) · is snarstefja (to make something up as one goes on) · no improvisere (to make something up as one goes on) · ru импровизи́ровать (to make something up as one goes on) · cs dělat spatra (to make something up as one goes on) · vi ứng biến (to make something up as one goes on) · bg импровизирам (to make something up as one goes on) · fi improvisoida (to make something up as one goes on) · ast improvisar (to make something up as one goes on) · cs improvizovat (to make something up as one goes on) · la faciō ad libitum (to make something up as one goes on) · vi ứng tác (to make something up as one goes on) · ca improvisar (to make something up as one goes on) · es repentizar (to make something up as one goes on) · es payar (to make something up as one goes on) · ru сымпровизи́ровать (to make something up as one goes on) · uk імпровізува́ти (to make something up as one goes on) · ro improviza (to make something up as one goes on) · pt improvisar (to make something up as one goes on) · is spinna (to make something up as one goes on) · hu improvizál (to make something up as one goes on) · be імправізава́ць (to make something up as one goes on) · it improvvisare (to make something up as one goes on) · it parlare a braccio (to make something up as one goes on) · pl improwizować (to make something up as one goes on) · tr doğaçlamak (to make something up as one goes on) · grc σχεδιάζω (to make something up as one goes on) · el αυτοσχεδιάζω (to make something up as one goes on) · es improvisar (to make something up as one goes on) · sv improvisera (to make something up as one goes on) · fr improviser (to make something up as one goes on) · nl improviseren (to make something up as one goes on) · mi tito ohia (to make something up as one goes on) · pl zaimprowizować (to make something up as one goes on) · is leika af fingrum fram (to make something up as one goes on) · da improvisere (to make something up as one goes on) · de improvisieren (to make something up as one goes on) · cmn 现抓 (to make something up as one goes on) · vi ứng tấu (to make something up as one goes on) · ja 即興で (to make something up as one goes on) · hu rögtönöz (to make something up as one goes on)