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
Leila and Kaveh improvise their way through each encounter.
—
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
The Writers Guild removed Friedkin’s name, which up-set Friedkin, who retaliated by saying in interviews that the movie was largely improvised.
—Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
To find the right actors for that job, Farris and her team sort through a mountain of self-tapes in the first round, asking people to improvise for two minutes on a specified topic.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 25 Mar. 2026
None of the dialogues were improvised.
—Marta Balaga, Variety, 21 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for improvise
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
The Writers Guild removed Friedkin’s name, which up-set Friedkin, who retaliated by saying in interviews that the movie was largely improvised.
—Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026
To find the right actors for that job, Farris and her team sort through a mountain of self-tapes in the first round, asking people to improvise for two minutes on a specified topic.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 25 Mar. 2026
None of the dialogues were improvised.
—Marta Balaga, Variety, 21 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for improvise
Recent Examples of Synonyms for improvise
Verb
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First canals and then locks were devised to guide boats around the falls.—
Adam Sachs,
Condé Nast Traveler,
28 Mar. 2026
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Board member David Young suggested the county could devise some kind of explanation or message on the county’s website explaining the reason for the changes, and Gumz asked Lasky to come up with language for a potential disclaimer for the website to be considered by the committee.—
Molly Morrow,
Chicago Tribune,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Police said Wang had slashed their throats and concocted a story about arriving home and shooting at a fleeing intruder responsible for the killings.—
Carlos E. Castañeda,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
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When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, scientists identified the virus, deciphered its secrets, concocted a vaccine, put it into production, and rendered the disease manageable – all within a year.—
David Blumenthal,
Fortune,
24 Mar. 2026
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 4 Apr. 2026.
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