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 〔事先無準備，但因意外之事而被迫〕臨時做(事)，即興作出

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

我忘了帶筆記，只好臨時發揮。

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〕臨時拼湊

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

沒有尿布，我們只好找到什麽就湊合着用。

Annie improvised a sandpit for the children.

安妮臨時爲孩子們造了個沙池。

3 PERFORMto invent music, words, a statement etc from your imagination, rather than planning or preparing it first 即興創作〔音樂等〕；即興發表〔講話、聲明等〕

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

我剛開始演奏，其他人就在我周圍即興表演了起來。

an improvised sketch

即興素描

—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

Syllable

Corpus