extemporaneous
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
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🗓️ 2 August 2024
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Summary
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 2, 2024 is:
extemporaneous • \ek-stem-puh-RAY-nee-us\ • adjective
Extemporaneous describes something that is made up or done without special preparation. It is usually used to describe public speaking.
// Now a seasoned professional, Abby is no longer unnerved when asked to make the occasional extemporaneous speech.
Examples:
"The show [Shōgun] lovingly conveys all the details of court society: the Noh performance by torchlight, the extemporaneous verse, the calligraphic stroke falling on a blank sheet of paper." — Ryu Spaeth, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2024
Did you know?
Extemporaneous, which comes from the Latin phrase ex tempore ("on the spur of the moment"), joined the English language sometime in the mid-17th century. The word impromptu, also from a Latin phrase (in promptu, meaning "in readiness") soon followed. In general usage, extemporaneous and impromptu are used interchangeably to describe off-the-cuff remarks or speeches, but this is not the case when they are used in reference to the learned art of public speaking. Teachers of speech will tell you that an extemporaneous speech is one that has been thoroughly prepared and planned but not memorized, whereas an impromptu speech is one for which absolutely no preparations have been made.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for August 2nd. |
| 0:11.0 | Today's word is ex-temaneous spelled EX T-E-M-P-O-R-A-N-E-U-S. |
| 0:21.2 | Extemporaneous is an adjective. It describes something that is made up or E Here's the word used in a sentence from vulture. |
| 0:34.0 | The show, show gun, lovingly conveys all the details of court society, |
| 0:39.0 | the no performance by torchlight, the extemporaneous verse, the calligraphic stroke falling on a blank sheet of paper. |
| 0:47.0 | Extemporaneous, which comes from the Latin phrase extemporay, meaning on the spur of the moment, joined the English language |
| 0:55.8 | sometime in the mid-17th century. The word impromptu, also from a Latin phrase, |
| 1:01.8 | in prompt-to, meaning in readiness, soon followed. |
| 1:06.3 | In general usage extemporaneous and impromptu are used interchangeably to describe off-the-cuff |
| 1:12.3 | remarks or speeches, but this is not the case when they are |
| 1:15.7 | used in reference to the learned art of public speaking. Teachers of speech will tell you |
| 1:21.8 | that an extemporaneous speech is one that has been thoroughly prepared |
| 1:26.0 | and planned but not memorized, whereas an impromptu speech is one for which absolutely no preparations have been made. |
| 1:33.4 | With your word of the day I'm Peter Sokolowski. |
| 1:36.0 | Visit Merriam-Webster. |
| 1:41.2 | com today for definitions, word play, and trending word lookups. |
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