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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

“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

"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

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

So the next day I go to Room 402 at lunch and do my best to volley back right answers to Rosa’s ad lib math problems.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen

"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

And who has not quarrelled with Georges and Ebenezers and Horaces ad lib., and been glad to have had the chance?

From The Booming of Acre Hill And Other Reminiscences of Urban and Suburban Life by John Kendrick Bangs

Comic actors have a sense of timing and an ability to ad-lib when the teleprompter spits out duds, as John Mulaney proved with his inspired rant about masculinity when he presented.

From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026

The notion that he’d ad-lib a mention of Harp, or include one in his prepared remarks without thinking through the possible ramifications, strains believability.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

What did you think when Karol G did your signature “whoa” ad-lib in the song?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2025

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

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

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

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

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

“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

They talk about their parts, sometimes even ad-libbing lines that are not in the script.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove