SINCE 1828
lip service
nounDefinition of lip service
: 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
Of all the concealers out there that get the most lip service, many of the iconic classics are a bit hard on the wallet (looking at you, Clé De Peau, you radiant and expensive goddess, you). — Allure, "The Best Concealers Under $20," 18 Oct. 2018 By opposing funding for deploying troops to the border, Rep. Ruppersberger boldly goes where every Democrat has gone before—paying lip service to our troops while keeping our borders porous. — WSJ, "Democrats’ Stealthy Push for Open Borders," 20 Nov. 2018 The Los Angeles label wasn't just paying lip service to a spirit of art punk–meets–wild child; the message was legible right on models' mouths, where the makeup artist Kanako Takase was creating her own freeform painting study. — Laura Regensdorf, Vogue, "These Marbleized Lips at Eckhaus Latta Are About to Become an Art-Punk Beauty Obsession," 8 Sep. 2018 Honestly, just paying lip service to having an up-to-date Android phone is progress at this point. — Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, "Nokia 6.1 Review—The best answer to “What Android phone should I buy?”," 13 July 2018 How ought outspoken survivors all feel, having aired indignities and pain publicly and across generations, to receive lip service from politicians, but ultimately see justice evaporate again? — Sarah Stankorb, Glamour, "Are Hashtags Like #MeToo and #BelieveWomen Hurting or Helping Survivors?," 15 Oct. 2018 Yet the Republican Party has always paid lip service to the idea. — Alexia Fernández Campbell, Vox, "Puerto Rico’s push for statehood, explained," 24 Sep. 2018 Despite the lip service paid to equality of the sexes in the new Yugoslavian constitution, women’s roles in the new socialist society did not change radically. — Alexandra Lange, Curbed, "Concrete utopia," 12 July 2018 Callous disregard for the will of the people, ongoing lip service to reform advocates, perpetual aversion to transformative change, and institutional unwillingness to act in any interest other than its own. — John Baer, Philly.com, "Two Pa. House and Senate leaders (sorta) defend our lackluster legislature | John Baer," 1 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lip service.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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