Spontaneous vs. Extemporaneous — What's the Difference?

Happening or arising without apparent external cause; self-generated

Carried out or performed with little or no preparation; impromptu

Arising from a natural inclination or impulse and not from forethought or prompting

Prepared in advance but delivered without notes or text

Unconstrained and unstudied in manner or behavior

Skilled at or given to unrehearsed speech or performance

Growing without cultivation or human labor

Provided, made, or adapted as an expedient; makeshift

Self-generated; happening without any apparent external cause.

With inadequate preparation or without advance thought; offhand.

Done by one's own free choice, or without planning.

Composed, performed, or uttered on the spur of the moment, or without previous study; unpremeditated; off-hand; ad-lib; extempore; extemporary; as, an extemporaneous address or production.

Proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external or conscious constraint.

With little or no preparation or forethought;

Arising from a momentary impulse.

Controlled and directed internally; self-active; spontaneous movement characteristic of living things.

Produced without being planted or without human cultivation or labor.

Sudden, without warning.

Proceeding from natural feeling, temperament, or disposition, or from a native internal proneness, readiness, or tendency, without constraint; as, a spontaneous gift or proposition.

Proceeding from, or acting by, internal impulse, energy, or natural law, without external force; as, spontaneous motion; spontaneous growth.

Produced without being planted, or without human labor; as, a spontaneous growth of wood.

Happening or arising without apparent external cause;

Said or done without having been planned or written in advance;

Produced without being planted or without human labor;