lip service

noun

1. insincere expression of friendship, admiration, support, etc.; service by words only:

   He paid only lip service to the dictator.

lip service

noun

1. insincere support or respect expressed but not put into practice

lip service

1. Insincere agreement; to “pay lip service” is to consent in one's words while dissenting in one's heart: “The boss's support of affirmative action was merely paying lip service; he never committed himself to it in any substantial way.”

Other Words From

• lip server noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of lip service¹

First recorded in 1635–45

Idioms and Phrases

Verbal but insincere expression of agreement or support. It is often put as pay or give lip service , as in They paid lip service to holding an election next year, but they had no intention of doing so . [Mid-1600s]

Example Sentences

Some of this is clearly marketing lip service, and far greater regulatory efforts are needed to help nudge consumers into more sustainable choices, and place checks on a slow-moving industry that contributes heavily to climate change.

From Outside Online

We thought people kind of paid lip service to it, but apparently it’s very important to them.

From Time

The influencer equity gap contrasts with the lip service that so many marketers have paid to diversity, equity and inclusion in the past year.

From Digiday

Indeed, for many years — with a few notable exceptions — marketers paid lip service to doing their bit.

From Digiday

The question is whether companies are just paying lip service to the idea of doing good.

From Fortune

As always, its leaders paid lip service to lofty ideals to obscure the ugly base alloys.

From The Daily Beast

The missus and the kids pay intermittent lip service to living on a farm.

From The Daily Beast

“Non-apology”, “disingenuous” and “lip service” were a few of the choice words expressed.

From The Daily Beast

As Democrats we need to speak much more boldly about how we address inequality and not just pay lip service to these ideas.

From The Daily Beast

People have been paying lip-service to globalization and the blahblahblah.

From The Daily Beast

At this poem Mary professed herself delighted; for she was long past blushing at lip service.

From Project Gutenberg

How far—and this was more vital—are they rendering lip-service to social organisations?

From Project Gutenberg

Ofttimes a good frown to an unwise friend is all that is necessary to stop this "lip service" flattery.

From Project Gutenberg

Since it was their show and their property, I couldn't see any reason why they made this odd lip-service to politeness.

From Project Gutenberg

German statesmen may protest about their love of peace, but the service they render to peace is only lip service.

From Project Gutenberg