as in impromptu
made or done without previous thought or preparation
not bad for an ad-lib comedy routine
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in improvisation
something that is performed, made, or done without preparation
you would never suspect that that stirring speech was an ad-lib
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to improvise
to perform, make, or do without preparation
had to ad-lib constructing a piñata because she'd never actually seen it being done
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ad-lib
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
24 June 2026
At the same time, more ad-lib moments are often expected onstage, bound to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
—
Sabrina Park,
Harper's BAZAAR,
15 Mar. 2023
Ryan Gajewski,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Feb. 2026
The ad-lib dramatically changed the scene from how Trier and Vogt had written it.
—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
5 Jan. 2026
Puzzled, Aggie climbs the stairs and — as Nile continues to ad-lib — finds Teddy, dead, suffocated with a bag, in Cooper’s room, which is decked out to match the live feed.
—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
14 Nov. 2025
Recently, Chance The Rapper told DJ Bootleg Kev about Mac playing a vital role in one of his most famous ad-libs, noting that the moment occurred during an LA recording session with Chuck Inglish.
—
Andre Gee,
Rolling Stone,
24 Oct. 2025
Urban often ad-libs comments when performing the song live.
—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
2 Oct. 2025
Between the ad-libs to start the cut and rapping over drill 808s mixed with Jersey club, Cardi appears to be taking a page out of the Ice Spice playbook.
—
Michael Saponara,
Billboard,
24 Sep. 2025
Being able to ad-lib was such a steep learning curve for me.
—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
6 Apr. 2025
Adjective
Larkin doesn’t ad-lib too much.
—
Michael Russo,
New York Times,
24 June 2026
At the same time, more ad-lib moments are often expected onstage, bound to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
—
Sabrina Park,
Harper's BAZAAR,
15 Mar. 2023
Verb
They were encouraged to ad-lib in character as Guest collected more than 60 hours of footage before taking a year to whittle it down to 84 minutes.
—
Ryan Gajewski,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Feb. 2026
The ad-lib dramatically changed the scene from how Trier and Vogt had written it.
—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
5 Jan. 2026
Puzzled, Aggie climbs the stairs and — as Nile continues to ad-lib — finds Teddy, dead, suffocated with a bag, in Cooper’s room, which is decked out to match the live feed.
—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
14 Nov. 2025
Recently, Chance The Rapper told DJ Bootleg Kev about Mac playing a vital role in one of his most famous ad-libs, noting that the moment occurred during an LA recording session with Chuck Inglish.
—
Andre Gee,
Rolling Stone,
24 Oct. 2025
Urban often ad-libs comments when performing the song live.
—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
2 Oct. 2025
Between the ad-libs to start the cut and rapping over drill 808s mixed with Jersey club, Cardi appears to be taking a page out of the Ice Spice playbook.
—
Michael Saponara,
Billboard,
24 Sep. 2025
Being able to ad-lib was such a steep learning curve for me.
—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
6 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ad-lib
Adjective
-
Videos of every speech, impromptu press conference and gaff circulate on social media.
-
The impromptu match, published on X June 20, formed part of NASA's push to explain how space relates to soccer.
Noun
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Both required enormous amounts of selflessness, stamina, plasticity, courage, and improvisation.
-
Journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan tell the story of a president who fought his way back from 2021 political exile to the White House — and then allowed overconfidence, improvisation, and impulse to hobble his second presidency.
Verb
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The characters have little time to make life-or-death decisions, let alone ruminate, and the action vacillates between triage and doctors expertly improvising solutions — like Mel (Taylor Dearden) donating her own blood, and Javadi (Shabana Azeez) going MacGyver mode with a tracheal tube.
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Grubbs will release a duo record with fellow avant-garde guitar hero Loren Connors, Somewhere in the Wind, on July 31, and is also prepping Bright Madness, his third improvised LP with musicians Wendy Eisenberg and Bonner Kramer for a late September release.
Adjective
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At the same time, Wilde wanted an improvisational rehearsal process in which the actors could discover and breathe life into the characters.
-
The wild card is Chicago alto saxophonist Lenard Simpson, a prodigious young player known for his impassioned improvisational flights.
Verb
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One of the easiest ways for an AI maker to guide an LLM in mental health chats is to use a system-wide prompt devised by the AI maker.
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National momentum for school screen Time limits LAUSD’s action to devise new limits in April spurred interest in the issue across the nation, said Jodi Carreon, who co-runs the California chapter of the Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project, a leader in the movement.
Adjective
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Across La Guaira, the coastal state hardest-hit by the disaster, and in parts of Caracas, thousands of residents are spending nights outdoors in plazas, parks, sports courts and improvised encampments, sleeping on mattresses, blankets and folding chairs.
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Eventually, the rewrite and actors workshop rehearsal combined — a two-week period in which Jones, McCormick, Wilde, Rogen, Cruz, and Norton acted out, improvised scenes, and, most importantly, talked about characters.
Verb
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Simple, sleek, and sophisticated, this one-shoulder jumpsuit is the easiest way to concoct a chic yet comfortable outfit.
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In the one that opens the film, Forky (Tony Hale), the googly-eyed spork, marries a plastic knife called Karen Beverly (Melissa Villaseñor), a name so perfectly unmelodious that only a kid, or an adult exceptionally good at thinking like one, could have concocted it.
Verb
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The future, instead, seems to belong to the teams and coaches who are willing to be a little more flexible and see their role as providing a platform on which their players might extemporize.
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Friends said he was talented and could extemporize about anything.
Cite this Entry
“Ad-lib.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ad-lib. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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