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
Since 2022, Wysocki has established himself as social media’s favorite cast member on Make Some Noise, Dropout’s game show in which contestants are rewarded points for improvising scenes based on comedic prompts.
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Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2025
Apatow likes to point out, swelling with pride, that then-8-year-old Maude completely improvised her character’s hilarious explanation of where babies come from in Knocked Up.
—Adrienne Lafrance, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2025
The movement artist is formally trained in ballet and contemporary techniques but also draws inspiration from the ability to improvise freely, removing the need for regimented and premeditated motion.
—Madison Beveridge, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Sep. 2025
It was basically all improvised.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for improvise
Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2025
Apatow likes to point out, swelling with pride, that then-8-year-old Maude completely improvised her character’s hilarious explanation of where babies come from in Knocked Up.
—Adrienne Lafrance, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2025
The movement artist is formally trained in ballet and contemporary techniques but also draws inspiration from the ability to improvise freely, removing the need for regimented and premeditated motion.
—Madison Beveridge, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Sep. 2025
It was basically all improvised.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for improvise
Recent Examples of Synonyms for improvise
Verb
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Stone is a former Riverside County supervisor who devised another north-south split for California, this one intended to give the new eastern California state a couple more seats in Congress and two more Republican seats in the Senate.—
Thomas Elias,
Mercury News,
16 Sep. 2025
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Saluti has devised a unique trio of designs for The Vault, each drawing inspiration from nature to create abstract, hypnotic forms that blur the boundaries of her creative disciplines.—
Mark Ellwood,
Robb Report,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Advertisement Advertisement Synthetic dyes are generally made from petroleum and concocted in labs.—
Alice Park,
Time,
15 Sep. 2025
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To solve this problem, materials scientists at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have concocted a new sunscreen recipe that spares the ocean’s vital microorganisms.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
4 Sep. 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 23 Sep. 2025.
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