Meanings
nounimprovisation (countable and uncountable, plural improvisations)
plural improvisations
- countableuncountableThe act or art of composing and making music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
He played a quick improvisation on the keyboard.
- countableuncountableThat which is improvised; an impromptu.
- countableuncountableMusical technique, characteristic of blues music.
- countableuncountableThe act of improvising, acting or going about something without planning ahead
The Ivorian is a player with such a liking for improvisation it does not usually look like he has any more idea than anyone else what he is going to do next, so it was an interesting choice.
2012 September 15, Amy Lawrence, “Arsenal's Gervinho enjoys the joy of six against lowly Southampton”, in the Guardian
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna performance given extempore without planning or preparation
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchimprovisation
- Englishimprovisation
From French improvisation. Morphologically improvise + -ation.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans improvisasie
- improvisasieact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
Ancient Greek σχεδιασμός
- σχεδιασμός (skhediasmós)act or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
Bulgarian импровизация, импровизация
- импровизация (improvizacija)act or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- импровизация (improvizacija)that which is improvised; an impromptu
Catalan improvisació, improvisació
- improvisacióact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvisacióthat which is improvised; an impromptu
Chinese Mandarin 即興 /即兴
- 即興 /即兴 (jíxìng)musical technique, characteristic of blues music
Czech improvizace, improvizace
- improvizaceact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvizacethat which is improvised; an impromptu
- improvizacemusical technique, characteristic of blues music
Danish improvisation
- improvisationact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
Dutch improvisatie, improvisatie
- improvisatieact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvisatiethat which is improvised; an impromptu
- improvisatiemusical technique, characteristic of blues music
Esperanto improvizado
- improvizadoact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
Finnish improvisointi, improvisaatio
- improvisointiact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvisaatioact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvisoituthat which is improvised; an impromptu
- improvisointimusical technique, characteristic of blues music
French improvisation, improvisation
- improvisationact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvisationthat which is improvised; an impromptu
German Improvisation, Improvisation
- Improvisationact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- Improvisationthat which is improvised; an impromptu
- Improvisationmusical technique, characteristic of blues music
Hebrew אִלְתּוּר
- אִלְתּוּר (iltúr)act or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
Hungarian improvizáció, improvizáció
- improvizációact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvizációthat which is improvised; an impromptu
Irish seiftiú
- seiftiúact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
Italian improvvisazione, improvvisazione
- improvvisazioneact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvvisazionethat which is improvised; an impromptu
- improvvisazionemusical technique, characteristic of blues music
Māori titonga ohiatanga, titonga ohiatanga
- titonga ohiatangaact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- titonga ohiatangathat which is improvised; an impromptu
Norwegian Bokmål improvisasjon, improvisasjon
- improvisasjonact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvisasjonthat which is improvised; an impromptu
- improvisasjonmusical technique, characteristic of blues music
Polish improvizacja
- improvizacjaact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
Portuguese improvisação, improviso
- improvisaçãoact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvisothat which is improvised; an impromptu
Romanian improvizare, improvizație
- improvizareact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvizațieact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
Russian импровиза́ция, импровиза́ция
- импровиза́ция (improvizácija)act or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- импровиза́ция (improvizácija)that which is improvised; an impromptu
- импровиза́ция (improvizácija)musical technique, characteristic of blues music
Slovak improvizácia
- improvizáciaact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
Spanish improvisación, improvisación
- improvisaciónact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvisaciónthat which is improvised; an impromptu
Swedish improvisation, improvisation
- improvisationact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- improvisationthat which is improvised; an impromptu
- improvisationmusical technique, characteristic of blues music
Turkish doğaçlama, doğaçlama
- doğaçlamaact or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
- doğaçlamathat which is improvised; an impromptu
Ukrainian імпровіза́ція
- імпровіза́ція (improvizácija)act or art of composing and rendering music, poetry, and the like, extemporaneously
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with improvisation
informationeducationlocationapplicationassociationadministrationorganizationcorporationregistrationAsianfoundationcommunicationpopulationnavigationstationaccommodationoperationpublicationvacationtransportationevaluationimplementationinstallationnation
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
improvisation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/improvisation
MLA
“improvisation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/improvisation. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “improvisation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/improvisation.
Source: improvisation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.