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Impromptu most often describes things, such as speeches or gatherings, that are not prepared ahead of time but that instead happen spontaneously. An impromptu concert or photoshoot, for example, is conceived and executed in the moment. Impromptu was borrowed—spelling, meaning, and all—from French in the mid-18th century. The French had gotten the word from Latin, from the phrase in promptu, meaning “in readiness.” But the presence of prompt in there is no coincidence: both impromptu and prompt are ultimately derived from the Latin promere, meaning “to bring forth, take out.”
Examples of impromptu in a Sentence
Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2026
During an outing with Kennedy's family at a rowdy pub, the pair snuck away for an impromptu date.
—Staff Author, InStyle, 7 Mar. 2026
Canadarm was used for spacewalking, several Hubble Space Telescope missions and some impromptu maneuvers such as knocking an ice plug off a frozen shuttle drain line, according to NASA.
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 6 Mar. 2026
Inevitably there will be impromptu photo shoots next to the most photographed work in LACMA’s collection, Urban Light, the series of street lamps that acts as catnip to tourists and influencers.
—Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 6 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Impromptu.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impromptu. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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