Meanings
present singular third person improvises · participle present improvising · participle past improvised · past improvised
- To make something up or invent it as one goes on; to proceed guided only by imagination, intuition, and guesswork rather than by a careful plan.
She improvised a lovely solo.
4 more examples
He had no speech prepared, so he improvised.
They improvised a simple shelter with branches and the rope they were carrying.
We have improvised the most charming party imaginable. The summer has come back by surprise. I own I wonder that June was not tired of us: still here is a day so sunny, that October does not know its own. The Duke of Wharton, Lord Hervey, and some two or three others, have designed a water-party in our honour.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Another London Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 173As this terrible emotion took charge of him, he found himself improvising a whole series of lovers for her, imagining them to be waiting around every corner.
1988, Salman Rushdie, chapter V, in The Satanic Verses, page 334Synonyms: fly by the seat of one's pants, play by ear, punt, think on one's feet, wing it
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo make something up or invent it as one goes on; to proceed guided only by imagination, intuition, and guesswork rather than by a careful plan.
More synonyms by meaning
verbmanage in a makeshift way; do with whatever is at hand
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinimprovisus
- Frenchimproviser
- Englishimprovise
From French improviser; ultimately from Latin improvisus. Not related to improve.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek σχεδιάζω
- σχεδιάζω (skhediázō)to make something up as one goes on
Arabic اِرْتَجَلَ
- اِرْتَجَلَ (irtajala)to make something up as one goes on
Bulgarian импровизирам
- импровизирам (improviziram)to make something up as one goes on
Catalan improvisar
- improvisarto make something up as one goes on
Chinese Mandarin 即興 /即兴, 现抓
- 即興 /即兴 (jíxìng)to make something up as one goes on
- 现抓 (xiànzhuā)to make something up as one goes on
Czech improvizovat, dělat spatra
- improvizovatto make something up as one goes on
- dělat spatrato make something up as one goes on
Danish improvisere
- improvisereto make something up as one goes on
Dutch improviseren
- improviserento make something up as one goes on
Finnish improvisoida, sepittää
- improvisoidato make something up as one goes on
- sepittääto make something up as one goes on
French improviser
- improviserto make something up as one goes on
German improvisieren
- improvisierento make something up as one goes on
Greek αυτοσχεδιάζω
- αυτοσχεδιάζω (aftoschediázo)to make something up as one goes on
Hebrew אַלְתֵּר
- אַלְתֵּר (altér)to make something up as one goes on
Hungarian improvizál, rögtönöz
- improvizálto make something up as one goes on
- rögtönözto make something up as one goes on
Icelandic leika af fingrum fram, snarstefja
- leika af fingrum framto make something up as one goes on
- snarstefjato make something up as one goes on
- spinnato make something up as one goes on
Irish seiftigh
- seiftighto make something up as one goes on
Italian improvvisare, parlare a braccio
- improvvisareto make something up as one goes on
- parlare a braccioto make something up as one goes on
Japanese 即興で
- 即興でto make something up as one goes on
Latin faciō ad libitum
- faciō ad libitumto make something up as one goes on
Māori tito ohia
- tito ohiato make something up as one goes on
Norwegian improvisere
- improvisereto make something up as one goes on
Polish improwizować, zaimprowizować
- improwizowaćto make something up as one goes on
- zaimprowizowaćto make something up as one goes on
Portuguese improvisar
- improvisarto make something up as one goes on
Romanian improviza
- improvizato make something up as one goes on
Russian импровизи́ровать, сымпровизи́ровать
- импровизи́ровать (improvizírovatʹ)to make something up as one goes on
- сымпровизи́ровать (symprovizírovatʹ)to make something up as one goes on
Spanish improvisar, repentizar
- improvisarto make something up as one goes on
- repentizarto make something up as one goes on
- payarto make something up as one goes on
Swedish improvisera
- improviserato make something up as one goes on
Turkish doğaçlamak
- doğaçlamakto make something up as one goes on
Ukrainian імпровізува́ти
- імпровізува́ти (improvizuváty)to make something up as one goes on
Vietnamese ứng biến, ứng tác
- ứng biếnto make something up as one goes on
- ứng tácto make something up as one goes on
- ứng tấuto make something up as one goes on
Cite this entry
improvise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/improvise
“improvise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/improvise. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “improvise,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/improvise.
Source: improvise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.