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
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
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
Sabrina Park, Harper's BAZAAR, 15 Mar. 2023
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
During their jam session with Bad Bunny, the group was able to ad-lib an element unique to their hometown: the tale of Jacinto, a farmer who is dragged by his cow into a ocean blowhole, famously known as Jacinto’s pit cave.
—Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2025
First of all, Megan gets to ad-lib every night and comes up with really funny lines every single night.
—Juan A. Ramírez, Vogue, 22 Nov. 2024
Adjective
At the same time, more ad-lib moments are often expected onstage, bound to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
—Verb
The ad-lib dramatically changed the scene from how Trier and Vogt had written it.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for ad-lib
Adjective
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This adds a layer of spontaneity to your dating life, increasing the potential for chemistry and impromptu love stories that catch you by surprise.—
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Stock up on this frozen item to serve at impromptu parties.—
Noun
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Honestly, stop-motion is such a rigorous process, so ill-suited for improvisation.—
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Classes include improvisation, vocal, dance and production.—
Verb
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During the auditions, wannabe actors are asked to improvise scenes including being a cat, being trapped in a room, and being propositioned by a famous director.—
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Singing this material with players who improvise — solos changing, every version being a little different — taught me about that urgent live-ensemble space where everyone’s living and dying by the next player onstage.—
Adjective
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Their fans, known as Deadheads, would tour along from city to city and revel in the constantly changing set lists, extended soloing and improvisational jamming that gave each show a unique flavor.—
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Their music — called acid rock at its inception — would pull in blues, jazz, country, folk and psychedelia in long improvisational jams at their concerts.—
Verb
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Last summer, researchers devised a method to translate internal representations of sentences from one language model to another.—
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Of all the schemes that humans have devised to keep sea lions from gorging on the salmon of the Columbia River basin, none has worked for long.—
Adjective
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Mochrie then performs an improvised comedy act with the semi-conscious volunteers.—
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This writing had an intimate, improvised feel and often took a looser approach to craft; much of it was written with performance in mind.—
Verb
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The administration concocts a legal rationale for a foreign policy objective.—
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Notably, the computers seem to have a knack for concocting bizarre physics experiments — designs that humans wouldn’t think of, which nevertheless work.—
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 13 Jan. 2026.
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