IMPROVISATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does improvisation mean? 

• IMPROVISATION (noun)
  The noun IMPROVISATION has 3 senses:

1. a creation spoken or written or composed extemporaneously (without prior preparation)

2. an unplanned expedient

3. a performance given extempore without planning or preparation

  Familiarity information: IMPROVISATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IMPROVISATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A creation spoken or written or composed extemporaneously (without prior preparation)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("improvisation" is a kind of...):

creation (an artifact that has been brought into existence by someone)

Derivation:

improvise (perform without preparation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An unplanned expedient

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

improvisation; temporary expedient

Hypernyms ("improvisation" is a kind of...):

expedient (a means to an end; not necessarily a principled or ethical one)

Derivation:

improvise (perform without preparation)

improvise (manage in a makeshift way; do with whatever is at hand)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A performance given extempore without planning or preparation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

extemporisation; extemporization; improvisation

Hypernyms ("improvisation" is a kind of...):

performance (the act of presenting a play or a piece of music or other entertainment)

Derivation:

improvise (perform without preparation)

 Context examples 

The swing of his nature took him from extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his black-letter editions.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)