as in impromptu
made or done without previous thought or preparation
stumbled through an improvised reply to an unexpected question at the press conference
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in devised
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 improvised
Hema Sivanandam, Mercury News, 27 Oct. 2025
Deep shots, screens, improvised plays, even a flea-flicker touchdown to Luther Burden III.
—Dan Wiederer, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
Two months later, the group launched more than two dozen attacks across northeastern Syria, relying on a combination of guerrilla tactics, including small arms fire, ambushes, assassinations, and improvised explosive devices targeting military checkpoints and government vehicles.
—Caroline Rose, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2025
The researchers believe this error was not from its knowledge base but was an improvised guess based on their prior conversation about the square’s diagonal.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2025
After Rogen gave a short and seemingly improvised speech, Bargatze returned for a brief monologue.
—Rosa Escandon, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
The improvised nature of the production was born in part out of practical necessity.
—Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 6 Sep. 2025
One person lies in the street, his head cracked open in a pool of blood, while a boy is carried away on an improvised stretcher.
—Mahmoud Atef, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2025
His signature moment was the improvised pass to Johnson on the right sideline.
—Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025
Tatiana Mitrova, Foreign Affairs, 5 Nov. 2025
That’s when the quarterback improvised.
—Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Also, Dylan improvised in a way the Beatles didn’t.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 27 Oct. 2025
The scene was partly improvised, in the sense that White didn’t know what the song was going to be before cameras rolled.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 20 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
That was completely improvised.
—Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 10 Oct. 2025
The new settlement wasn’t improvised.
—Miquel Ros, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2025
The hunter improvised a sleeping bag using a mylar rescue blanket and tarp, rescuers said.
—Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
Provide your input and be part of creating improvised scenes, games and musicals that come with tons of fun and laughter!
—Hema Sivanandam, Mercury News, 27 Oct. 2025
Deep shots, screens, improvised plays, even a flea-flicker touchdown to Luther Burden III.
—Dan Wiederer, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
Two months later, the group launched more than two dozen attacks across northeastern Syria, relying on a combination of guerrilla tactics, including small arms fire, ambushes, assassinations, and improvised explosive devices targeting military checkpoints and government vehicles.
—Caroline Rose, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2025
The researchers believe this error was not from its knowledge base but was an improvised guess based on their prior conversation about the square’s diagonal.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2025
After Rogen gave a short and seemingly improvised speech, Bargatze returned for a brief monologue.
—Rosa Escandon, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
The improvised nature of the production was born in part out of practical necessity.
—Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 6 Sep. 2025
One person lies in the street, his head cracked open in a pool of blood, while a boy is carried away on an improvised stretcher.
—Mahmoud Atef, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2025
His signature moment was the improvised pass to Johnson on the right sideline.
—Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025
Verb
Refineries are adding improvised overhead netting and shielding, for instance.
—Tatiana Mitrova, Foreign Affairs, 5 Nov. 2025
That’s when the quarterback improvised.
—Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Also, Dylan improvised in a way the Beatles didn’t.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 27 Oct. 2025
The scene was partly improvised, in the sense that White didn’t know what the song was going to be before cameras rolled.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 20 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
That was completely improvised.
—Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 10 Oct. 2025
The new settlement wasn’t improvised.
—Miquel Ros, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2025
The hunter improvised a sleeping bag using a mylar rescue blanket and tarp, rescuers said.
—Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 22 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for improvised
Adjective
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Organized by a slew of leading Japanese menswear companies, the event — now in its seventh iteration — is a city stroll-cum-impromptu-runway show of men decked out in full sartorial looks that has already taken place in Tokyo, Osaka and Seoul, among other cities.—
Martino Carrera,
Footwear News,
5 Nov. 2025
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Dreyer learned of the award on Friday, when SDFC’s players and staff surprised him with the trophy in an impromptu ceremony.—
Ryan Finley,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Riffmade founders Stephanie Betesh and Nicholas Steigmann devised a whole line of furnishings with this idea in mind, starting with a desk that can be covered up when the work day is over.—
Lori Keong,
Architectural Digest,
30 Oct. 2025
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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
Adjective
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Perhaps those types of fluid, improvisational melodies could only be born from literally not being strapped in.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
6 Nov. 2025
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The band’s concerts have become a hallmark of improvisational energy that has attracted a devoted and eclectic fanbase.—
Jessica Nicholson,
Billboard,
30 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 docuseries reveals that while married to Rasmussen, Johnson lied about working for Nike, faked cancer and continuously cheated on his wife.—
Addie Morfoot,
Variety,
31 Oct. 2025
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During the last episode of Hulu’s The Kardashians, Kim Kardashian endorsed the conspiracy theory that the 1969 moon landing was faked.—
Charisma Madarang,
Rolling Stone,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Improvised.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/improvised. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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