adlib

Speak without script

To adlib is to speak or perform without preparation, improvising in the moment.

The term comes from Latin *ad libitum* (at pleasure).

An adlib is an unscripted remark or action: The best line in the movie was actually an adlib.

As an adverb, it means freely or spontaneously: She spoke adlib for twenty minutes.

Also spelled ad-lib.

improvisation

extemporize

Speak without preparation

off-the-cuff · spur-of-the-moment · on-the-fly · unprepared · unpremeditated · freestyle · makeshift · spontaneous · improvise · extemporaneous

speech

extemporaneous

Done without advance preparation

toast · aside · digression · tangent · filler · stalling · rambling · winging-it · podium · microphone

comedy

quip

Brief, clever remark

comeback · repartee · banter · punchline · heckler · timing · delivery · wit · clever · wordplay

jazz

scat

Improvised vocal jazz

  • soloPerformance by one
  • riffRepeated musical phrase
  • jamCooked fruit spread

improvisation · bebop · swing · vamp · lick · comping · noodling · cadenza · break · fill

performance

monologue

Uninterrupted solo address

  • dialogueSpoken exchange between parties
  • sceneDramatic unit or locale
  • stageRaised performance platform

actor · blocking · cue · flub · cover · save · recovery · aside · interlude · filler

Categories
Opposites
preparation

adlibrehearsed

Prepared by repetition

rehearse · scripted · prepare · memorized · memorize

textual adherence

adlibread

Comprehend written language

recite · quote · parrot · toe the line · regurgitate

Family

adlibbed, adlibs, adlibbing

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Everyday, not technical · Rated G