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

It can be done only by creating a culture in which the best qualities of Christian humanism and the concept of the Imago Dei are not just given lip service but cultivated and celebrated, in churches and beyond churches. —Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026

This is not mere lip service; Spotify has moved from filling 20% of open jobs with internal talent to over 40% in 2025, with plans to increase this even more in the future. —Francesca Cassidy, Fortune, 8 June 2026

Some commanders paid lip service to the agreement, the soldiers said, while privately voicing desire for the war in Gaza to continue. —Sam Mednick, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2026

To Diaz, the assistance looked more like lip service. —Miami Herald, 28 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1590, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lip service

• disservice
• preservice
• interservice
• nervous
• nervus