ad lib
noun
something improvised in speech, music, etc..
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ad lib
1 American
[ad lib, ad]
/ æd ˈlɪb, ˈæd /
noun
adverb
-
at one's pleasure; without restriction.
-
freely; as needed; without stint.
Water can be given to the patients ad lib.
ad lib.
2
American
abbreviation
ad-lib
3
American
[ad-lib, ad-]
/ ædˈlɪb, ˈæd- /
verb (used with object)
ad-libbed,
ad-libbing
verb (used without object)
ad-libbed,
ad-libbing
adjective
ad-lib
British
/ ædˈlɪb /
verb
adjective
adverb
-
without restraint; freely
-
music short for ad libitum
noun
Other Word Forms
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
Vocabulary lists containing ad-lib
Reading: Literature - Drama - Introductory
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Theater - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Drama - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I've realised that usually I like to ad lib but you can't ad lib a script because your fellow actor doesn't know when you're going to stop talking."
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 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
In the verse, you sing “Soul really matters to me,” and in the second verse, you follow that with an ad lib, “Too much.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2022
There is a silence in the room and then a babble of ad lib conversation. 9TH JUROR: Please.
From "Twelve Angry Men" by Reginald Rose
"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
Senior Digital Project Manager ad lib. this is an incredible opportunity for a talented d…. £35k - £40k.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 28, 2010
UK USA UK Browse more society jobs Digital Designers & Flash Designers ad lib. fancy the idea of joining a handpicked team of dig….
From The Guardian ● Mar. 23, 2010
O'er fair free hills and valleys I can converse and carry on ad lib.;
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, June 17, 1914 by Sir Owen Seaman
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
There’s literally an ad-lib, which is a no-no with August Wilson, that Boy Willie says to his niece, “You feel that? That’s your family, that’s your blood.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2024
“He couldn’t ad-lib some unity?!” asked co-host Joy Reid.
From Salon ● Jul. 16, 2024
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
You’ll feel free to ad-lib in the confidence that you can return to your thread.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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
“See, because his last name is Gruyère, which is a kind of cheese,” Owen ad-libbed.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
His ad-libbing in the post-kinetic stage isn’t his finest hour.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Twelve grown adults, sitting around a table on a Saturday afternoon being silly and ad-libbing as their own cartoonish inventions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2024
The Fijians have always been everyone’s favorite longshots at the Rugby World Cup due to the way they play, an inventive, ad-libbing attack-from-anywhere kind of ethos.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 18, 2023
He then went further, ad-libbing to suggest that no other world leader would want to change places with Mr. Xi, given the scope of his recent problems.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
