as in to devise
to perform, make, or do without preparation
since the award was a complete surprise, I improvised an acceptance speech
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Recent Examples of improvise
In my own dollhouse, my dolls are not forced to improvise.
—
Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025
Without access to many kitchen supplies, the women improvised, using wine bottles and shell casings as rolling pins and baking soda tins as cutters.
—Laura Daniella Sepulveda, AZCentral.com, 17 Oct. 2025
As a member of the Soultronics, as the 13-person touring band was called, Hamilton stood harmonizing and improvising behind the man who was crafting a new foundation for soul music.
—Elise Brisco, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2025
Directors like me to improvise a lot, and so there’s always multiple takes.
—Vincent Perella, IndieWire, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for improvise
Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025
Without access to many kitchen supplies, the women improvised, using wine bottles and shell casings as rolling pins and baking soda tins as cutters.
—Laura Daniella Sepulveda, AZCentral.com, 17 Oct. 2025
As a member of the Soultronics, as the 13-person touring band was called, Hamilton stood harmonizing and improvising behind the man who was crafting a new foundation for soul music.
—Elise Brisco, Rolling Stone, 16 Oct. 2025
Directors like me to improvise a lot, and so there’s always multiple takes.
—Vincent Perella, IndieWire, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for improvise
Recent Examples of Synonyms for improvise
Verb
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The British military historian John Keegan revealed the hazards of this kind of planning in his anatomy of the Schlieffen Plan, the German strategy for fighting a two-front continental war that was devised, in 1905, by the chief of the army’s general staff, Alfred von Schlieffen.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
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Anime giant Crunchyroll has partnered with Luminopia, a digital health company that devises new treatments for significant neuro-visual disorders, for a new VR treatment for kids with lazy eye (amblyopia).—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Even so, del Toro has not merely concocted another Whale of a tale.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
28 Oct. 2025
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Each district sends two children as tributes to the fight-to-the-death Hunger Games, concocted by the capitol to keep the populace distracted.—
Adam Bell,
Charlotte Observer,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The future, instead, seems to belong to the teams and coaches who are willing to be a little more flexible and see their role as providing a platform on which their players might extemporize.—
Rory Smith,
New York Times,
3 Mar. 2023
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Friends said he was talented and could extemporize about anything.—
Jacques Kelly,
Baltimore Sun,
24 Jan. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Improvise.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/improvise. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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