extemporaneous

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“
The debates were extemporaneous, and after the preliminary speeches, the question was open to all.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. adjective Carried out or performed with little or no preparation; impromptu: an extemporaneous piano recital.
  2. adjective Prepared in advance but delivered without notes or text: an extemporaneous speech.
  3. adjective Skilled at or given to unrehearsed speech or performance: an accomplished extemporaneous speaker.
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Examples (50)

  • "He's at his best when he's extemporaneous," said longtime lobbyist Bob Bishop. —  Top Stories - Google News
  • (Harvard had long had an excellent team that competed in so-called on-topic debate but did not have a team that engaged in the extemporaneous parliamentary style of debating.) —  Dorf on Law
  • He's had to assemble and present his thoughts about various topics during national extemporaneous speaking events at recent speech meets. —  Craig Daily Press stories
  • While Plain is under pressure to present herself as a lucid and agile performer, Biden, too, must avoid the kind of extemporaneous remarks that have landed him in trouble before. —  Home
  • While Palin is under pressure to present herself as a lucid and agile performer, Biden, too, must avoid the kind of extemporaneous remarks that have landed him in trouble before. —  Omaha World-Herald > Frontpage
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Late Latin extemporāneus, from Latin ex tempore; see extempore.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = Spanish extemporáneo = Italian estemporaneo, from Latin as if *extemporaneus, equivalent to extemporalis: see extemporal.
 

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/ɛkstɛmpəˈreɪnəəs/
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