ad-lib

[ad-lib, ad-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ad-lib ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), ad-libbed, ad-lib·bing.

to improvise all or part of (a speech, a piece of music, etc.): to ad-lib one's lines.

verb (used without object), ad-libbed, ad-lib·bing.

to act, speak, etc., without preparation: Throughout the play he had to ad-lib constantly.

adjective

impromptu; extemporaneous: ad-lib remarks to hecklers.

Origin of ad-lib

1915–20, Americanism; v. use of ad lib

Related formsad-lib·ber, noun

ad lib

[ad lib, ad]

noun

something improvised in speech, music, etc.: Was that joke part of your speech or an ad lib?

adverb

at one's pleasure; without restriction.

freely; as needed; without stint: Water can be given to the patients ad lib.

Origin of ad lib

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

ad lib.

ad libitum.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ad-lib

improvise, extemporize, impromptu, improvised, invent, extemporaneous, extempore, made-up, spontaneous, unprepared, unrehearsed, off-the-cuff, extemporaneously, spontaneously

Examples from the Web for ad-lib

Contemporary Examples of ad-lib

They told me to forget the script because I was going to have to ad-lib everything.
Charlie Brotman, Announcer of Presidential Inaugurals Since Truman’s
Sandra McElwaine
January 17, 2013

British Dictionary definitions for ad-lib

ad-lib

verb -libs, -libbing or -libbed

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

adjective (ad lib when predicative)

improvised; impromptu

adverb ad lib

without restraint; freely

music short for ad libitum

noun

an improvised performance, often humorous

Derived Formsad-libber, noun

Word Origin for ad-lib

C18: short for Latin ad libitum, literally: according to pleasure

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ad-lib

ad lib

1811, shortened from Latin ad libitum "at one's pleasure, as much as one likes" (c.1600), from libere "to please" (see libido). First recorded as one word 1919 (v.), 1925 (n.).

ad-lib in Medicine

ad lib.

abbr.

ad libitum (freely, as desired)