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Glite Dictionary
lip synch

lip synch

4.8
Matching mouth movements to recorded sound in a video or live show
  • noun
  • /lɪp sɪŋk/
  • UK
translation icon : sincronización labial
  • She practiced her lip synch to make sure it matched the recorded dialogue.

Examples

  • The music video was shot in one take, but required perfect lip synch.

  • The actor performed a perfect lip synch during the show.

  • The actor had to lip synch to the song during the performance.

  • Did you see the lip synchs in that music video?

  • To ensure the scene looked realistic, she had to master her lip synch with the pre-recorded audio.

  • During the live concert, the performers used lip synch to synchronize their voices with the track.

  • In the film's climactic scene, flawless lip synch added to the emotional impact of the character's monologue.

Synonyms

lip sync
vslip synch
2 3.8

To move your lips to match a recorded voice or song

is the same technique but shown with a different spelling or form
lip synchronization
vslip synch
  • US
5.4

To match sound with video so a person's lips move at the same time

is the same action but framed as a practical performance technique

How Synchronized

lip synch
  • UK
4.8

Surface Forms

lip synch singular
lip synchs plural
lipsynchs plural
lipsynch singular

Morphology

lip + synch

The meaning — matching lip movements to pre-recorded audio — is directly built from 'lip' (mouth edge) + 'synch' (short for 'synchronize/synchronization', i.e., to make things match in time). Although 'synch' is an informal clipping that may be unfamiliar as a dictionary headword, the compositional relation is transparent and predictable to a learner who knows the constituents.

Etymology

Lip synch comes from the simple picture of a performer's lip movements being matched to a recorded sound, and synch is short for 'synchronize', which means 'to match'. So, the term means the technique of moving your mouth to look like you are speaking or singing the recorded audio.