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Glite Dictionary
freestyling

freestyling

1 8.4
A way of making up rap lyrics while performing live
  • noun
  • /ˈfriːstaɪlɪŋ/
  • Informal
translation icon : improvisación
  • I bullet point them very light scripting, maybe like seven bullet points that I want to make sure I hit, but I'm pretty good at freestyling most of them.

He did, yes, he freestyle battle to the beat.

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Examples

  • Uh, there is no freestyling in the ball pool!

    The Pacifier (2005)

  • I got to create where I'm reacting with people and freestyling in person.

  • So I was making Sunday service and I was like, we was like freestyling in LA, whatever.

  • But this segment is called When freestyling Goes Wrong, wrong.

    etthehiphoppreacher

  • And Miss Blackman, when you were freestyling, you said No Fear.

  • Yes, Kanye grabbed the mic and started freestyling, and it was craziness.

  • I'm dropping freestyles after freestyles and after picking up everyone shared in them and then I think obviously Jordan McCann.

    Anything Goes With James English

  • "Unique patterns of brain activity occur when rappers spontaneously improvise lyrics, a technique known as freestyling.

    Blog text (12)

  • (FREESTYLING)

    Creed (2015)

  • During the open mic night, many performers showcased their freestyling talent, improvising lyrics on the spot.

Synonyms

improv
vsfreestyling
  • Informal
48 4.6

A performance where actors make scenes and lines without a script

is the same spontaneous creation but done as live rapping

Antonyms

scripted
3.7

Written in advance rather than made up while speaking or acting

How Improvised

freestyling
  • Informal
1 8.4
to rap
28 4.1

Surface Forms

freestyling singular
freestylings plural

Morphology

freestyling = freestyle (semi-transparent) = free + style + ing

The gerund suffix '-ing' is regular, but the rap sense of 'freestyle' is only partly predictable from 'free' + 'style'.

Etymology

Freestyling comes from free and style, where free means 'without' and style means 'a way of doing something'. So freestyling is doing a 'style' without set rules or a written plan, and in rap it means making up lyrics 'on the spot'.