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
Juiz de Fora's City Hall said in a statement that around 600 families living in endangered areas were about to be relocated to local schools improvised as shelters and that the city experienced double the rain expected for February.
—
ABC News, 25 Feb. 2026
Daniel, Chris’s father, has been searching for him ever since, along the banks of the Vistula River, improvising methods and means of investigation.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 25 Feb. 2026
Evacuation efforts are described in the filing as chaotic and improvised.
—Bradford Betz, FOXNews.com, 24 Feb. 2026
With so much experience playing Head, Claassen is easily able to improvise in the moment answering random questions, cracking jokes and exchanging repartee with audience members, like the unfortunate man in row B who dared to show up at the theater on Friday in a casual sweatshirt.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for improvise
ABC News, 25 Feb. 2026
Daniel, Chris’s father, has been searching for him ever since, along the banks of the Vistula River, improvising methods and means of investigation.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 25 Feb. 2026
Evacuation efforts are described in the filing as chaotic and improvised.
—Bradford Betz, FOXNews.com, 24 Feb. 2026
With so much experience playing Head, Claassen is easily able to improvise in the moment answering random questions, cracking jokes and exchanging repartee with audience members, like the unfortunate man in row B who dared to show up at the theater on Friday in a casual sweatshirt.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for improvise
Recent Examples of Synonyms for improvise
Verb
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Last week, the council voted 9–6 to direct the city manager to study moving its emergency operations, dispatch and service call center out of City Hall while devising funding plans for repairing the aging building, staying there and relocating.—
Devyani Chhetri,
Dallas Morning News,
9 Mar. 2026
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While Green gave him instant advice, Kerr was devising ways to get Porzingis involved.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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As Gyllenhaal begins concocting her third directorial feature, could Curtis be part of the picture?—
Antonio Ferme,
Variety,
6 Mar. 2026
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Gyllenhaal, who also wrote her film, has corrected the imbalance, refashioning the story from the Bride’s perspective and concocting a protagonist of unfiltered feminist fury.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 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 14 Mar. 2026.
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