extemporize

verb

ex·​tem·​po·​rize ik-ˈstem-pə-ˌrīz 

extemporized; extemporizing

intransitive verb

1

: to do something extemporaneously : improvise

especially : to speak extemporaneously

2

: to get along in a makeshift manner

transitive verb

: to compose, perform, or utter extemporaneously : improvise

extemporized an after-dinner speech

extemporizer noun

Did you know?

Let’s dive into the essence of extemporize by exploring its origins. (We’ll try not to bore you with too many extraneous details.) To extemporize is to say or do something off-the-cuff; extemporize was coined by adding the suffix -ize to the Latin phrase ex tempore, meaning “on impulse” or “on the spur of the moment.” (Incidentally, ex tempore was also borrowed wholesale into English with the meaning “in an extemporaneous manner.”) Other descendants of ex tempore include the now rare extemporal and extemporary—both synonyms of extemporaneous—and as you have no doubt guessed by now, extemporaneous itself.

Synonyms

• ad-lib
• clap (together or up)
• fake
• improvise

Examples of extemporize in a Sentence

a good talk show host has to be able to extemporize the interviews when things don't go as planned

Recent Examples on the Web

The future, instead, seems to belong to the teams and coaches who are willing to be a little more flexible and see their role as providing a platform on which their players might extemporize. —Rory Smith, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2023

Friends said he was talented and could extemporize about anything. —Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun, 24 Jan. 2023

Feel free to extemporize, enthuse and connect with people, rather than overwork the data. —Palena Neale, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2021

In public appearances, Emanuel likes to extemporize, cajole, and find a connection. —Connie Bruck, The New Yorker, 19 Apr. 2021

The Trump that appeared in the East Room of the White House to honor the singers was not the same figure who likes to crack jokes and extemporize freely when rubbing shoulders with superstars. —Rob Crilly, Washington Examiner, 15 Jan. 2021

That meant players were able to extemporize, to take chances without being accused of departing too far from the team playbook. —San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Sep. 2019

And they are exacerbated by Mr. Trump’s tendency to extemporize and the North Koreans’ long track record of duplicitous negotiation. —Jonathan Cheng, WSJ, 9 Mar. 2018

Each presenter now has the freedom to extemporize on the warning — a nonnegotiable requirement of the program’s opening — but not by much. —Rory Smith, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2017

Word History

Etymology

extempore + -ize

First Known Use

1592, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

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Kids Definition

extemporize

verb

ex·​tem·​po·​rize ik-ˈstem-pə-ˌrīz 

extemporized; extemporizing

: to do, make, or speak extempore : improvise