Definition of Improvise

1. Verb. Perform without preparation. "They will improvise the duet"; "He extemporized a speech at the wedding"


2. Verb. Manage in a makeshift way; do with whatever is at hand. "After the hurricane destroyed our house, we had to improvise for weeks"
Exact synonyms: Extemporize
Generic synonyms: Contend, Cope, Deal, Get By, Grapple, Make Do, Make Out, Manage
Derivative terms: Improvisation

Definition of Improvise

1. v. t. To compose, recite, or sing extemporaneously, especially in verse; to extemporize; also, to play upon an instrument, or to act, extemporaneously.

2. v. i. To produce or render extemporaneous compositions, especially in verse or in music, without previous preparation; hence, to do anything offhand.

Definition of Improvise

1. Verb. To make something up or invent it as one goes on; to proceed guided only by imagination, instinct, and guesswork rather than by a careful plan. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Improvise

1. [v -VISED, -VISING, -VISES]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Improvise

improvisational comedy
improvisational theatre
improvisationally
improvisations
improvisator
improvisatore
improvisatores
improvisatori
improvisatorial
improvisators
improvisatory
improvisatrice
improvisatrices
improvisatrici
improvisatrix
improvise (current term)
improvised
improvised explosive device
improviser
improvisers
improvises
improvising
improvision
improvisions
improvisor
improvisors
improvize
improvized
improvizes
improvizing

Literary usage of Improvise

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Southern Writers: Biographical and Critical Studies by William Malone Baskervill (1896)
"... than when he shows that just as a Southern negro will improvise on the banjo daring variations, such as would, if Haydn employed them, be called high ..."

2. Biographia juridica. A biographical dictionary of the judges of England from by Edward Foss (1870)
"... intermingle with the actors, and, adopting a character appropriate to the piece, would improvise the part to the sport and admiration of the audience. ..."

3. The Collected Poems of Philip Bourke Marston: Comprising "Song-tide," "All by Philip Bourke Marston, Louise Chandler Moulton (1892)
"... ON HEARING OLE BULL improvise ON THE VIOLIN. WHAT note is this of infinite appeal That wakes beneath thy hand's inspired control ? ..."

4. In the Tropics by Joseph Warren Fabens, Cora Montgomery, Settler in Santo Domingo (1863)
"improvise a bee-hive.—Arrival of agricultural implements.—All grievously disappointed.—Dishonesty of the "house" in New York.—A warning to buyers. ..."

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