Definition of extemporizenext
as in to improvise
to perform, make, or do without preparation a good talk show host has to be able to extemporize the interviews when things don't go as planned

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of extemporize 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 Friends said he was talented and could extemporize about anything. Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun, 24 Jan. 2023 Feel free to extemporize, enthuse and connect with people, rather than overwork the data. Palena Neale, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2021 In public appearances, Emanuel likes to extemporize, cajole, and find a connection. Connie Bruck, The New Yorker, 19 Apr. 2021 The Trump that appeared in the East Room of the White House to honor the singers was not the same figure who likes to crack jokes and extemporize freely when rubbing shoulders with superstars. Rob Crilly, Washington Examiner, 15 Jan. 2021 That meant players were able to extemporize, to take chances without being accused of departing too far from the team playbook. San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Sep. 2019 And they are exacerbated by Mr. Trump’s tendency to extemporize and the North Koreans’ long track record of duplicitous negotiation. Jonathan Cheng, WSJ, 9 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extemporize
Verb
  • The characters have little time to make life-or-death decisions, let alone ruminate, and the action vacillates between triage and doctors expertly improvising solutions — like Mel (Taylor Dearden) donating her own blood, and Javadi (Shabana Azeez) going MacGyver mode with a tracheal tube.
    EW Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 25 June 2026
  • Grubbs will release a duo record with fellow avant-garde guitar hero Loren Connors, Somewhere in the Wind, on July 31, and is also prepping Bright Madness, his third improvised LP with musicians Wendy Eisenberg and Bonner Kramer for a late September release.
    Jonathan Cohen, SPIN, 25 June 2026
Verb
  • One of the easiest ways for an AI maker to guide an LLM in mental health chats is to use a system-wide prompt devised by the AI maker.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026
  • National momentum for school screen Time limits LAUSD’s action to devise new limits in April spurred interest in the issue across the nation, said Jodi Carreon, who co-runs the California chapter of the Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project, a leader in the movement.
    Audience Editor, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2026
Verb
  • Simple, sleek, and sophisticated, this one-shoulder jumpsuit is the easiest way to concoct a chic yet comfortable outfit.
    Caroline Hughes, Travel + Leisure, 20 June 2026
  • In the one that opens the film, Forky (Tony Hale), the googly-eyed spork, marries a plastic knife called Karen Beverly (Melissa Villaseñor), a name so perfectly unmelodious that only a kid, or an adult exceptionally good at thinking like one, could have concocted it.
    Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Extemporize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extemporize. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.

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