as in improvising
to perform, make, or do without preparation
had to ad-lib constructing a piñata because she'd never actually seen it being done
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ad-libbing
Verb
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This reflects conscientiousness, or the tendency to plan, organize and execute systematically versus improvising and adapting in real time.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026 -
So neighbors have been improvising.—
Gavin J. Quinton,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Jan. 2026
Verb
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And commissioners spent all that time devising the College Sports Commission in an attempt to stabilize the NIL/portal market, then sit back and let one school in their conference steal yet another star QB half an hour before the portal closes.—
Stewart Mandel,
New York Times,
28 Jan. 2026
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The 40-year-old cooks up ways to make quarterbacks miserable in his sleep, devising schemes that are meant to lure as much as they are intended to confuse.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The reality is that the AI is concocting elaborate personas, faking as though humans are writing about human woes.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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Both activities can be fairly ordinary hobbies—games of imagination not so different from crushing on a pop star or concocting stories about a film protagonist.—
Faith Hill,
The Atlantic,
17 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Wisconsin doesn't have a crime on the books for faking a death.—
Drake Bentley,
jsonline.com,
3 Feb. 2026
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After faking a slap shot, Kucherov had sent a pass down to Guentzel.—
Fluto Shinzawa,
New York Times,
2 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Ad-libbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ad-libbing. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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