improvise
French, verb
improvise is spelled I-M-P-R-O-V-I-S-E (9 letters) and appears 1.7 times per million words in written French, the 22,802nd most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Improvise is a French verb meaning “first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an accent, improvisé is a different word: “past participle of improviser”.
What does improvise mean in English?
verb
- 1
first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- 2
second-person singular imperative
verb
- 1
past participle of improviser
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui est réalisé ou conçu sans préparation ni planification préalable, de manière spontanée.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of improvise
- improvisée feminine
- improvisés masculine plural
- improvisées feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to improvise
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is improvise in French?
improvise appears 1.7 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).