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• ad lib
  ad lib

  noun

  something improvised in speech, music, etc..
• ad lib.
  ad lib.

  abbreviation

  ad libitum.
• ad-lib
  ad-lib

  verb (used with object)

  to improvise all or part of (a speech, a piece of music, etc.).

ad lib

¹ American  

[ad lib, ad] / æd ˈlɪb, ˈæd /

noun

1. something improvised in speech, music, etc..

   Was that joke part of your speech or an ad lib?

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adverb

1. at one's pleasure; without restriction.

2. freely; as needed; without stint.

   Water can be given to the patients ad lib.

ad lib. ² American  

abbreviation

1. ad libitum.

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ad-lib ³ American  

[ad-lib, ad-] / ædˈlɪb, ˈæd- /

verb (used with object)

ad-libbed, ad-libbing

1. to improvise all or part of (a speech, a piece of music, etc.).

   to ad-lib one's lines.

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verb (used without object)

ad-libbed, ad-libbing

1. to act, speak, etc., without preparation.

   Throughout the play he had to ad-lib constantly.

adjective

1. impromptu; extemporaneous.

   ad-lib remarks to hecklers.

ad-lib British  

/ ædˈlɪb /

verb

1. to improvise and deliver without preparation (a speech, musical performance, etc)

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adjective

1. improvised; impromptu

adverb

1. without restraint; freely

2. music short for ad libitum

noun

1. an improvised performance, often humorous

Other Word Forms

• ad-libber
  noun

Etymology

Origin of ad lib¹

First recorded in 1810–20; see origin at ad libitum

Origin of ad-lib³

1915–20, v. use of ad lib

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ad lib ad lib. ad-lib ad-libbed ad-libbing

But she is keen to clear something up about possibly her most famous ad lib - "enter" - which she often used to hype up the energy during live performances.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

I was watching somebody inhabit a character at the highest level; every ad lib, every way, she did it a little differently.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2023

Williams says working on the show was fun because of the cast chemistry, and the license to ad lib at times to make scenes funnier felt “very fulfilling.”

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2023

Sure enough, after three months, the mice who ate ad lib were stricken with obesity, diabetes, liver disease, and a host of other ugly conditions.

From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2022

Dad had a good sense of theater, and he’d try to time this apparent ad lib so that it would coincide with the change in traffic.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

"It's very ad lib. So you're never really able to simulate what's going to happen."

From US News ● Nov. 5, 2015

Senior Account Manager - Digital Marketing Agency ad lib. windsor, berkshire. £27k - £35k.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 31, 2010

UK USA UK Jobs in media Deputy Editor - B2C ad lib. this is a great opportunity for a talented deputy…. £20k - £25k.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 29, 2010

Senior Digital Project Manager ad lib. this is an incredible opportunity for a talented d…. £35k - £40k.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 28, 2010

Well, you look here, my bloke: I’ll have fizz ad lib., or it won’t wash.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. XIX (of 25) The Ebb-Tide; Weir of Hermiston by Stevenson, Robert Louis

Williams was elusive and made some great ad-lib plays down the stretch, and they dominated possession, but allowing big plays cost them dearly.

From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2025

For years, he recalled in his Television Academy Foundation interview, he’d tear out advertisements from Life magazine and, behind a closed bedroom door, he’d ad-lib commercials as he pretended to be on the radio.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025

The speech isn’t something he can ad-lib or pull from memory, hence the notes, and he’d never use a PowerPoint presentation.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2024

Whether this comment is a favored ad-lib or something his speechwriters cooked up, it needs to go, immediately.

From Slate ● Feb. 9, 2024

Kids wouldn’t move to the right places during rehearsals, or would ad-lib wisecracks, which Mrs. Finley didn’t think at all funny.

From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers

Rogen and Franco ad-libbed, drew out the best in their fellow actors and made the rest of the room feel as if they were part of their joyous adventure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026

Several of the takes which he ad-libbed made it into the film and Delbis is proud of that.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025

“I was too young to be in the Senate,” he then ad-libbed in a joke, “and too old to be the president.”

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2024

But not just any communication: an informal, minute-by-minute written down substitution for what might otherwise have been said out loud ad-libbed remarks, lost to the ether moments after their utterance.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2023

As Piper ad-libbed answers, Leo jumped on the serpent’s back.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

His ad-libbing in the post-kinetic stage isn’t his finest hour.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

“You look like a fallen constellation,” she told the crowd, ad-libbing some poetry.

From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 2023

“It’s made me less precious about my performance. I’m more willing to fail and be messy,” said Snook, who, like Macfadyen, faces the added challenge of ad-libbing in her nonnative accent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2023

He points out actors’ performances and ad-libbing, costuming, make-up and visual effects design heightening the humor; and he regrets cutting lots of stuff in scenes due to lack of final run time.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 29, 2023

Next thing I know, TJ and I are ad-libbing back and forth in harmony over the chorus.

From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles