ad-lib 1 of 3

adjective

Definition of ad-libnext
as in impromptu
made or done without previous thought or preparation not bad for an ad-lib comedy routine

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

ad-lib

2 of 3

noun

as in improvisation
something that is performed, made, or done without preparation you would never suspect that that stirring speech was an ad-lib

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

ad-lib

3 of 3

verb

ˈad-ˈlib How to pronounce ad-lib (audio)
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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ad-lib
Adjective
Ritchie’s process Multiple Gentlemen cast members have talked about Ritchie’s on-set process, which often calls on actors to learn new versions of scripts in the moment, or ad-lib to improve a scene. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2026 But that moment, that is an ad-lib because the line was [supposed to be] very calm. — Mikey O'Connell, HollywoodReporter, 13 Aug. 2026
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 See All Example Sentences for ad-lib
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ad-lib
  1. impromptu
  2. improvisation
  3. improvise
  4. improvisational
  5. devise
  6. improvised
  7. concoct
  8. extemporize
Adjective
  • Plus spending two to three hours running — plus recovery time — on Saturdays and Sundays likely saved me from at least a few impromptu shopping trips.
    — Kamaron McNair, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Paquette was in a ska/punk band in his youth, then began setting up impromptu music shows in rehearsal studios and other places.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of impromptu
Noun
  • The foundation’s late-night sessions also allow musicians to join the performances, continuing a tradition of collaboration and improvisation that has defined Kansas City jazz for generations.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 5 Nov. 2026
  • However recognizable the structures may be—isolated phrases giving way to longform improvisation—the performance finds Taylor in a transitional period, one in which the ephemerality of the moment pushed its musicians to bold new places.
    — Levi Dayan, Pitchfork, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of improvisation
Verb
  • None of them decided what was worth going after, recognized which opening justified the risk, or improvised when a target behaved in a way no playbook anticipated.
    — Jay Kaplan, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The story, conceived by Ari Gold, is improvised by the director’s own family and friends — including his real father – and Ethan Gold’s songs are performed live on camera as the night unfolds.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of improvise
Adjective
  • The New Stanford Prison Experiment, Netflix’s take on a project that was always more convincing as improvisational theater than as scientific research, isn’t even television’s first crack at Zimbardo’s study.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
  • These findings suggest that the audience for conversations about the soul is not shrinking, but shifting away from organized religion and toward more personal, improvisational forms of seeking.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of improvisational
Verb
  • Over the following weeks, the group of roughly 15 people spoke almost daily to trace the vulnerabilities to their common source and devise a fix.
    — Harry Booth, Time, 23 Oct. 2026
  • With her knack for devising novel solutions to seemingly insoluble problems, no one was better suited for the job.
    — Dean Robbins, Space.com, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of devise
Adjective
  • Carlos Montenegro California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Prison officials did not provided details on the circumstances of the attack but said two improvised weapons were found at the scene.
    — Senior Editor, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Prison staff discovered two improvised weapons at the scene, according to CDCR.
    — Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of improvised
Verb
  • An amalgam of the precise and the visionary, such as Turner alone could concoct.
    — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Churchill got the approval of Gilded Age showrunner and creator Julian Fellowes, as well as HBO head of drama Francesca Orsi and CEO Casey Bloys, and then concocted a way that the cameo could work without being too distracting to the audience.
    — Leigh Blickley, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of concoct
Verb
  • 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.
    — Rory Smith, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2023
  • Friends said he was talented and could extemporize about anything.
    — Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun, 24 Jan. 2023
Definition of extemporize

Browse Nearby Words

adjuvant
ad-lib
ad-libbed
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Cite this Entry

“Ad-lib.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ad-lib. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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