Impromptu

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impromptu \Im*promp"tu\, adv. or a. [F. impromptu, fr. L. in
     promptu in readiness, at hand; in in + promptus visibility,
     readiness, from promptus visible, ready. See {Prompt}.]
     Offhand; without previous study; extemporaneous; extempore;
     as, an impromptu verse.
     [1913 Webster]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impromptu \Im*promp"tu\, n.
     1. Something made or done offhand, at the moment, or without
        previous study; an extemporaneous composition, address, or
        remark.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Mus.) A piece composed or played at first thought; a
        composition in the style of an extempore piece.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  impromptu
       adj : with little or no preparation or forethought; "his ad-lib
             comments showed poor judgment"; "an extemporaneous
             piano recital"; "an extemporary lecture"; "an extempore
             skit"; "an impromptu speech"; "offhand excuses";
             "trying to sound offhanded and reassuring"; "an
             off-the-cuff toast"; "a few unrehearsed comments" [syn:
              {ad-lib}, {extemporaneous}, {extemporary}, {extempore},
              {offhand}, {offhanded}, {off-the-cuff}, {unrehearsed}]
       n 1: an extemporaneous speech or remark; "a witty impromptu must
            not sound premeditated"
       2: a short musical passage that seems to have been made
          spontaneously without advance preparation
       adv : without advance preparation; "he spoke ad lib" [syn: {ad lib},
              {ad libitum}, {spontaneously}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  76 Moby Thesaurus words for "impromptu":
     ad lib, ad libitum, ad-lib, ad-libbing, arrangement,
     at short notice, at sight, by ear, cadenza, caught napping,
     caught off balance, caught short, extemporaneous, extemporaneously,
     extemporaneousness, extemporarily, extemporariness, extemporary,
     extempore, extemporization, extemporized, flourish, haphazard,
     hasty, hot lick, improvisation, improvisatorial, improvise,
     improvised, improvision, improviso, interpolation, jury-rig,
     jury-rigged, lick, makeshift, measure, off the cuff, off the hip,
     off-the-cuff, offhand, on sight, out of hand, playing by ear,
     precipitate, pro tempore, quick, riff, rough-and-ready, snap,
     stopgap, surprised, taken aback, taken by surprise, taken unawares,
     temporary arrangement, temporary measure, tripped up, unarranged,
     unbegun, unconcocted, uncontrived, undeliberated, undevised,
     unhatched, unmade, unmanufactured, unorganized, unplanned,
     unpremeditated, unprepared, unprimed, unready, unrehearsed,
     unstudied, vamp