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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
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 27 May 2026
His father, a volcano-curious engineer, drove him to the airport, where the elder Einarsson had convinced an airline pilot to take an impromptu flight over the new volcano.
—Quanta Magazine, 26 May 2026
Williams regularly walks through the Tenderloin neighborhood in San Francisco to take impromptu portraits of people who live there, hoping to capture beauty, joy, laughter, and moments of humanity that are often unseen and neglected.
—Max Darrow, CBS News, 26 May 2026
Bode makes an impromptu decision to offer up his father's ring, which he's been wearing on a chain around his neck.
—Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 23 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Impromptu.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impromptu. Accessed 1 Jun. 2026.
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