as in devising
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 improvising
So neighbors have been improvising.
—
Gavin J. Quinton, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026
Beverly D'Angelo discussed improvising a scandalous hand gesture in Christmas Vacation.
—Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Dec. 2025
The franchise already has its playbook, and judging by social media reactions, Blumhouse ran it without improvising for the win.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 8 Dec. 2025
The country is still bruised, unbalanced and improvising.
—Julia Vargas Jones, CNN Money, 25 Nov. 2025
During an early rehearsal, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande began improvising a goodbye — speaking, not singing — with their arms wrapped around each other in a corner of the room.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 21 Nov. 2025
Cohen was involved every step of the way, hitting his marks, taking notes on what could be improved, and even improvising to make the run-through more entertaining.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 20 Nov. 2025
As Swift makes clear, the Theatre endured only because Burbage was good at improvising and snookering his business partners.
—Isaac Butler, The Atlantic, 3 Nov. 2025
In the Adams formulation, the true history was about chance, contingency, and unintended consequences, about political leaders who were all improvising on the edge of catastrophe.
—Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
Gavin J. Quinton, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2026
Beverly D'Angelo discussed improvising a scandalous hand gesture in Christmas Vacation.
—Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Dec. 2025
The franchise already has its playbook, and judging by social media reactions, Blumhouse ran it without improvising for the win.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 8 Dec. 2025
The country is still bruised, unbalanced and improvising.
—Julia Vargas Jones, CNN Money, 25 Nov. 2025
During an early rehearsal, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande began improvising a goodbye — speaking, not singing — with their arms wrapped around each other in a corner of the room.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 21 Nov. 2025
Cohen was involved every step of the way, hitting his marks, taking notes on what could be improved, and even improvising to make the run-through more entertaining.
—Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 20 Nov. 2025
As Swift makes clear, the Theatre endured only because Burbage was good at improvising and snookering his business partners.
—Isaac Butler, The Atlantic, 3 Nov. 2025
In the Adams formulation, the true history was about chance, contingency, and unintended consequences, about political leaders who were all improvising on the edge of catastrophe.
—Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for improvising
Verb
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The Panthers spent most of Saturday’s game (as well as their previous matchup with the Rams) devising ways to get McMillan and Coker running down the field against those small corners.—
Derrik Klassen,
New York Times,
14 Jan. 2026
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The 40-year-old cooks up ways to make quarterbacks miserable in his sleep, devising schemes that are meant to lure as much as they are intended to confuse.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Both activities can be fairly ordinary hobbies—games of imagination not so different from crushing on a pop star or concocting stories about a film protagonist.—
Faith Hill,
The Atlantic,
17 Jan. 2026
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Later in the episode, Kody took aim at Janelle, accusing her once again of concocting a plan to try and sell Coyote Pass out from under Meri.—
Abigail Adams,
PEOPLE,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The reality is that the AI is concocting elaborate personas, faking as though humans are writing about human woes.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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Financial future faking is becoming a major factor in Gen Z and millennial divorces—and perhaps a reason why these younger generations marry less often or much later in life.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
11 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Improvising.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/improvising. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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