lip service

American  

noun

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

   He paid only lip service to the dictator.

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lip service British  

noun

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

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lip service Cultural  

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.”

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lip service Idioms  

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

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Other Word Forms

• lip server noun

Etymology

Origin of lip service

First recorded in 1635–45

Example Sentences

We’ve had some changes on campuses, at least lip service being paid to more viewpoint diversity.

From The Wall Street Journal

Fifty years of lip service to self-determination for Greenland doesn’t add up, if it ever did.

From The Wall Street Journal

They pay lavish lip service to difficult and demanding ideals without developing the capabilities required to defend them.

From The Wall Street Journal

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the cycle of "paying lip service to the potential of the North" had to end.

From BBC

Preparing Americans for this change can’t be just lip service with no follow-through.

From MarketWatch