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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 despite all that, she's still arguably most well-known for the ad lib phrases that popped into her fast-paced raps in Mis-Teeq songs.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

“It’s a spill-your-guts-out record,” she says, adding that for every song, she’d write a first verse, then ad lib the rest in the studio.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2025

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

We shoot six episodes a day and they just fly along because it’s all ad lib.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 13, 2021

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

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

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

Length of dance ad lib., but they must go round twice at least.

From The Cat and Fiddle Book Eight Dramatised Nursery Rhymes for Nursery Performers by Lady Florence Bell

I would want to do everything real, and Jonathan would always encourage me to ad-lib and improvise.

From Salon ● Mar. 25, 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

It has a pantomime theatricality to it, featuring shots of the audience and including moments when the actors corpse - a term used to describe breaking character and laughing - and ad-lib on stage.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 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

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

Geller, last year’s valedictorian, ad-libbed “millionaires suck” during his commencement address.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026

Two singers stepped out of the ranks to recite the closing lines, and one of them ad-libbed an addition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 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

Instead of pronouncing the prayer, Francis ad-libbed his speech before the statue of the Madonna and skipped the peace prayer entirely, reciting instead a Hail Mary with young disabled people.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 6, 2023

“We have received your summons, O mighty ones,” Marshall chanted and then ad-libbed, “and it’s nothing but an old pigeon feather.”

From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

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

And sometimes that means you need to do a little bit of rewriting, ad-libbing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2023

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

From New York Times ● Jun. 11, 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