lip service
noun
: an avowal of advocacy, adherence, or allegiance expressed in words but not backed by deeds
—usually used with pay
Examples of lip service in a Sentence
She paid lip service to blue-collar workers, but she did nothing to help them.
So far all we've gotten from him is lip service.
Recent Examples on the Web
Obviously a certain amount of that was lip service.
—
Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 13 Apr. 2026
Even as the virtue-signaling Anthropic gobbled up more and more of its customers, OpenAI seemed to remain oddly resistant to paying even the slightest lip service to the greater good.
—Julia Black, Vanity Fair, 7 Apr. 2026
The sequel strips Grace of what made her special and merely pays lip service to the first one’s worldview, representing the antagonists as generically incompetent hedonists.
—Michael Ordoña, Houston Chronicle, 19 Mar. 2026
The sequel strips Grace of what made her special and merely pays lip service to the first one’s worldview, representing the antagonists as generically incompetent hedonists.
—Michael Ordoña, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for lip service
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Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 13 Apr. 2026
Even as the virtue-signaling Anthropic gobbled up more and more of its customers, OpenAI seemed to remain oddly resistant to paying even the slightest lip service to the greater good.
—Julia Black, Vanity Fair, 7 Apr. 2026
The sequel strips Grace of what made her special and merely pays lip service to the first one’s worldview, representing the antagonists as generically incompetent hedonists.
—Michael Ordoña, Houston Chronicle, 19 Mar. 2026
The sequel strips Grace of what made her special and merely pays lip service to the first one’s worldview, representing the antagonists as generically incompetent hedonists.
—Michael Ordoña, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for lip service
Cite this Entry
“Lip service.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lip%20service. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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