Improvised

How to spell improvised

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce improvised

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does improvised mean?

1. verbCreated or performed something spontaneously, without prior preparation.
2. adjectiveMade or arranged on the spot from whatever is available, rather than planned in advance.

Improvised in a sentence

• verb

  When the projector failed, she improvised a talk using only the whiteboard.

• adjective

  They built an improvised shelter from branches and a tarpaulin.

• verb

  The chef improvised a sauce from whatever was left in the fridge.

• adjective

  The team held an improvised meeting in the hallway to fix the problem.

Where does improvised come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin improvisus, meaning 'unforeseen' or 'unexpected', formed from the negative prefix in- ('not') joined to provisus, the past participle of providere, 'to foresee' (literally 'to see ahead', from pro- 'before' and videre 'to see'). The idea was of something done without prior preparation, that is, something not seen coming. It reached English through the Italian improvvisare and the French improviser in the eighteenth century, originally describing musicians and poets composing on the spot. The same providere root sits inside the familiar words 'provide' and 'provision', a reminder that to improvise is precisely to act without having provided for the moment in advance. The single 's' pronounced like a 'z', plus the unstressed middle vowel, are the usual spelling traps.

How the word is built

• im- (in-, not)
• provis (from Latin providere: to foresee)
• -ed (past tense/adjectival ending)