extemporize

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Verb

extemporize (extemporizes, present participle extemporizing; past and past participle extemporized)

1. (intransitive) To do something, particularly to perform or speak, without prior planning or thought; to act in an impromptu manner; to improvise.

   • "It's nobody's, miss."

     "Do you mean you have been extemporizing all this time?"

   • 2009 March 5, Peter Baker, "The (very) scripted president ↗," New York Times (retrieved 8 Nov 2011):

     But while some of his predecessors liked to extemporize, Obama prefers the message to be just so.

2. (transitive) To do, create, improvise, adapt, or devise in an impromptu or spontaneous manner.
   • 1906, Thomas Hardy, The Dynasts, Part Second, Act Third:

     The wine runs into pitchers, washing-basins, shards, chamber- vessels, and other extemporized receptacles.

   • 2003 Aug. 25, Emily Eakin, "How King Shaped The Dream ↗," New York Times (retrieved 8 Nov 2011):

     His most famous words — "I have a dream" — were extemporized.

Synonyms

• (intransitive) improvise, think on one's feet
• (transitive) devise, improvise

Related terms

• extemporaneous
• extempore
• extemporization / extemporisation

Translations

• German: extemporieren
• Italian: parlare a braccio, improvvisare
• Russian: импровизи́ровать

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