lip service

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lip service

Where it comes from

First use appears c. 1590, in A Treatise against Witchcraft by Henry Holland. Compare earlier lip-labour.

noun lipservice · lip-service

idiomatic, uncountable Promising but empty talk; words without action or intention. The candidate gave lip service to fixing the problems, but it is doubtful that he will do much.
slang, uncountable, vulgar Cunnilingus (sometimes also referred to as giving lip). Jack gave Samantha lip service.
Similar: brain, dome, head, mouth music, neck, Kirk

Translations

Every language

noun Empty talk; words absent of action or intention

Español	choro, rollo, labia, hacer brindis al sol, floro, floreo
日本語	口先 kuchisaki, リップサービス rippu sābisu
中文	空口 kōngkǒu
Português	papo furado, falar da boca para fora
Français	baratin, boniment
Deutsch	Lippenbekenntnis
Italiano	promessa vuota, adesione di facciata
Русский	пусты́е слова́ pustýje slová, неи́скренние словоизлия́ния neískrennije slovoizlijánija, пустословие pustoslóvije

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MLA

"lip service." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lip%20service. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

lip service. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lip%20service

Chicago

"lip service." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lip%20service.

BibTeX

@misc{lip_service_2026,
  title = {lip service},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lip%20service},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}