Improvise vs. Extemporize — What's the Difference?

To make, compose, or perform with little or no preparation

To do or perform (something) without prior preparation or practice

To make or provide from available materials

To perform an act or utter something in an impromptu manner; improvise

To make, compose, or perform something extemporaneously.

(intransitive) To perform or speak without prior planning or thought; to act in an impromptu manner; to improvise.

To make do with whatever materials are at hand

(transitive) To adapt, improvise, or devise action or speech in an impromptu or spontaneous manner.

To make something up or invent it as one goes on; to proceed guided only by imagination, intuition, and guesswork rather than by a careful plan.

To speak extempore; especially, to discourse without special preparation; to make an offhand address.

To compose, recite, or sing extemporaneously, especially in verse; to extemporize; also, to play upon an instrument, or to act, extemporaneously.

To do, make, or utter extempore or off-hand; to prepare in great haste, under urgent necessity, or with scanty or unsuitable materials; as, to extemporize a dinner, a costume, etc.

To bring about, arrange, do, or make, immediately or on short notice, without previous preparation and with no known precedent as a guide.

Manage in a makeshift way; do with whatever is at hand;

To invent, or provide, offhand, or on the spur of the moment; as, he improvised a hammer out of a stone.

Perform without preparation;

To produce or render extemporaneous compositions, especially in verse or in music, without previous preparation; hence, to do anything offhand.

Perform without preparation;

Manage in a makeshift way; do with whatever is at hand;