ad lib
1 Americannoun
adverb
-
at one's pleasure; without restriction.
-
freely; as needed; without stint.
Water can be given to the patients ad lib.
abbreviation
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
adjective
verb
adjective
adverb
-
without restraint; freely
-
music short for ad libitum
noun
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
Vocabulary lists containing ad-lib
Reading: Literature - Drama - Introductory
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Theater - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Drama - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“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
Williams says working on the show was fun because of the cast chemistry, and the license to ad lib at times to make scenes funnier felt “very fulfilling.”
From Seattle Times • Jan. 27, 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
Dad had a good sense of theater, and he’d try to time this apparent ad lib so that it would coincide with the change in traffic.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
