as in to improvise
to perform, make, or do without preparation a good talk show host has to be able to extemporize the interviews when things don't go as planned

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of extemporize 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extemporize
Verb
  • As such, the team improvised for the Oct. 17 show, setting up a riser in the middle of the amphitheater amid the seats.
    Katie Bain, Billboard, 22 Jan. 2025
  • Much of the music—early jazz, ska, rocksteady, and reggae—was improvised on the spot.
    Heather Augustyn, SPIN, 21 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • The pampering sanctuary, which includes seven treatment rooms, a sauna, and a plunge pool, was devised to celebrate the destination’s culture of massage, yoga, and well-being across experiences that speak to and rejuvenate the mind, body, and spirit.
    Kathryn Romeyn, Travel + Leisure, 23 Jan. 2025
  • In Dallas, the city manager is the CEO, the person who devises the city's $5.2 billion budget and oversees over 13,000 employees.
    Naheed Rajwani-Dharsi, Axios, 22 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Or a witch or wizard standing over a cauldron concocting life-altering potions.
    Simone Milasas, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
  • Others were at it, too, with Aston Villa, Everton, Chelsea and Leicester City all concocting their own mutually beneficial deals to chase compliance.
    Philip Buckingham, The Athletic, 14 Jan. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Extemporize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extemporize. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

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