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
Others pay lip service but don’t really comprehend them. — Osita Nwanevu, The New Yorker, "Conservative Nationalism Is Trumpism for Intellectuals," 21 July 2019 Yes, the old conservative consensus paid lip service to traditional values. — The Economist, "Conservatism is fighting for its life against reactionary nationalism," 4 July 2019 Cybersecurity experts aren’t listening to the lip service. — Kristina Libby, Popular Mechanics, "The Capital One Hack Probably Put Your Data on the Dark Web," 30 July 2019 But whether Orbán actually subscribes to Turanist dogma or just pays lip service to it is an open question. — Jacob Mikanowski, Harper's magazine, "The Call of the Drums," 21 July 2019 Inauthentic efforts and lip service to valuing employees isn’t going to work. — Gwen Moran, Fortune, "Better Communication Tools Can Radically Improve Workplaces—If Managers Can Convince Workers to Speak Up," 8 June 2019 Most are trying to increase diversity in their research—not to simply pay lip service to social justice, but to increase the likelihood of finding a cure. — Katherine Ellen Foley, Quartz, "Excluding minorities from Alzheimer’s research is wrong—and it’s keeping us from finding a cure," 19 July 2019 All pay lip service to the idea that the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), a club of ten mostly smaller powers, should be at the core of FOIP. — The Economist, "Asian countries fear China but many won’t side with America," 6 June 2019 Netanyahu has wanted an ally in the White House on this issue since he was first elected in 1996, and though previous presidents have paid lip service, no one took it seriously until Trump. — Lisa Miller, Daily Intelligencer, "The Face of Birthright Israel Is Speaking Out Against the Prime Minister," 30 May 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.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more