Word.ws English Dictionary

ad lib

/æd ˈlɪb/

ad lib adverb: at pleasure.

Adverb

ad lib (comparative more ad lib, superlative most ad lib)

  1. At pleasure.
    Synonyms:
    a piacere
  2. At will.
  3. As much as desired, to one's fill, without restriction.
    • For one thing I had a splendid supper when I got on board—a whack of cold, lean beef and pighells, bread, butter ad lib., tea, and plenty of good bread.1951, Katherine Mansfield, Letters to John Middleton Murry, 1913-1922
  4. Extemporaneously.

Adjective

ad lib (comparative more ad lib, superlative most ad lib)

  1. Extemporaneous, impromptu.
    • We were shocked to learn that the entire show was an ad lib performance. How did they weave it together so expertly on the fly?
  2. That provides as much as each one desires, to each one's fill, without restriction.
    • ad lib feed
    • ad lib access

Noun

ad lib (plural ad libs)

  1. An instance of something improvised, especially a line.
  2. Improvised vocals added after the main vocals have been recorded which serve to emphasize the rhythm or fill the lyrical bar line.

Verb

ad lib (third-person singular simple present ad libs, present participle ad libbing, simple past and past participle ad libbed)

  1. To perform without a script.
    Synonyms:
    fake
  2. To perform without preparation.
  3. To perform extemporaneously.
    • She ad libbed the rest of the scene.
  4. (intransitive, chiefly hip hop) To perform ad libs; to improvise lyrics after the main lyrics have been recorded.
  5. (transitive, chiefly hip hop) To perform (lyrics) as ad libs.

ad lib meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Thai

ad lib in Tamil

வேண்டுமளவு, உண்ணுமளவு அளித்தல், விருப்பம்சார்

ad lib in Urdu

برجستہ, بلاپابندی

ad lib in Thai

extemporaneously
พูดกลอนสด pôot glon sòt

Examples of ad lib in a sentence

  • All hens in the laying house have ad lib access to feed.
  • The patients in the control group had ad lib access to snacks and were given no extra dietary advice.

Synonyms of ad lib

Forms of ad lib

Adverb
comparativemore ad lib
superlativemost ad lib
alternative adverbad lib.
alternative noun verbad-lib
alternative noun verbadlib
Adjective
comparativemore ad lib
superlativemost ad lib
Noun
pluralad libs
Verb
third-person singular presentad libs
present participlead libbing
past participlead libbed
pastad libbed

Origin of ad lib

Abbreviation of ad libitum, borrowed from New Latin ad libitum.

Words formed from ad lib

Questions about ad lib

What does ad lib mean?
Ad lib means at pleasure.
What is ad lib in Tamil?
Ad lib in Tamil is வேண்டுமளவு, உண்ணுமளவு அளித்தல், விருப்பம்சார். See Ad lib meaning in Tamil.
How do you use ad lib in a sentence?
All hens in the laying house have ad lib access to feed.
What part of speech is ad lib?
Ad lib can be an adverb, an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce ad lib?
Ad lib is pronounced /æd ˈlɪb/.

Words near ad lib in the dictionary

  1. ad interim
  2. ad interim copyright
  3. ad interim copyrights
  4. ad inventories
  5. ad inventory
  6. ad lib
  7. ad lib.
  8. ad libbed
  9. ad libbing
  10. ad libitum
  11. ad libs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ad lib (page history and authors); ad lib (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ad lib (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-ad lib.wav.

Cite this entry: “ad lib.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ad_lib. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.