improvise

Word family

Related topics: Music, Theatre

im·pro·vise /ˈɪmprəvaɪz/ verb [intransitiveI, transitiveT]

1 DOto do something without any preparation, because you are forced to do this by unexpected events 〔事先无准备，但因意外之事而被迫〕临时做(事)，即兴作出

I forgot to bring my notes, so I had to improvise.

我忘了带笔记，只好临时发挥。

2 MAKEto make something by using whatever you can find because you do not have the equipment or materials that you need 〔就地取材〕临时拼凑

There were no nappies, so we had to improvise with what we could find.

没有尿布，我们只好找到什么就凑合着用。

Annie improvised a sandpit for the children.

安妮临时为孩子们造了个沙池。

3 PERFORMto invent music, words, a statement etc from your imagination, rather than planning or preparing it first 即兴创作〔音乐等〕；即兴发表〔讲话、声明等〕

I just started playing, and the other guys started improvising around me.

我刚开始演奏，其他人就在我周围即兴表演了起来。

an improvised sketch

即兴素描

—improvisation /ˌɪmprəvaɪˈzeɪʃən $ ɪmˌprɑːvə-/ noun [countableC, uncountableU]

Examples from the Corpus

improvise• Use these recipes as a guideline, but feel free to improvise!• You can't play jazz unless you can improvise.• Throughout it all, an expanding group of change leaders at McKinsey continued to improvise.• You had to sing; you had to dance; you had to play an instrument; you had to improvise.• I left my lesson plans at home, so I'll have to improvise.• It was difficult to believe that the whole sketch was improvised.• Jazz musicians are good at improvising.• Mike improvised a little farewell song at the end of the evening.• I improvised a sling for his arm out of a strip of cloth.• They had improvised an alarm, using string and empty cans.• If you've improvised and made a tie yourself, undo it and retie.• Modern jazz players like to take a theme and improvise around it.• Kids were improvising games with a ball and some string.• Robin Williams likes to improvise his comedy.• Keynes improvised the answers, and changed them as he went along.• Solov had given Holder sixteen bars of music to improvise to, and the dancer grabbed at the opportunity.• The reality of improvising your way through change demands revising specific strategies over time.

Origin improvise

(1800-1900) French improviser, from Italian, from improvviso “sudden”

im·pro·vise verb

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus