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

Derived Forms

• lip server
  noun

Etymology

Origin of lip service

First recorded in 1635–45

Example Sentences

But worse than the price hikes is the unsettling feeling that consumers are being gaslit by tech giants paying lip service to the gaming community while delaying product releases or peddling AI-generated “slop.”

From MarketWatch • May 23, 2026

Can any of us ever pay more than lip service to peace?

From Salon • Feb. 13, 2026

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

From BBC • Jan. 13, 2026

They may ask for others’ input and give lip service to their ideas, but it quickly becomes clear that “it’s my way or the highway.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

She still did lip service to the old ways, while herself nibbling away at forbidden fruit.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez