ad-lib
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom ad lib.
Verb
editad-lib (third-person singular simple present ad-libs, present participle ad-libbing, simple past and past participle ad-libbed)
- To improvise all or part of a speech or other performance, especially in comedy.
- 1998 December 21, The New Yorker:
- Hope’s onstage ad-libbing generated more humor and attention than the show’s lacklustre libretto.
- 2004 March 15, The New Yorker:
- I watched Jeb Bush as his brother spoke. He paid attention, grinned and laughed, even ad-libbed when called upon.
Derived terms
editDescendants
edit- Korean: 드립 (deurip, “inappropriate or risqué joke”)
Translations
editto improvise
|