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Glite Dictionary
to lip-sync

to lip-sync

11 4.6
To move the lips to match recorded speech or music
  • verb
  • /ˈlɪpˌsɪŋk/
  • US
translation icon : hacer playback
  • At the talent show, she decided to lip-sync to her favorite pop song for the audience.
  • lip-sync songs
  • lip-sync a concert
  • lip-sync their hit

That was a character I was playing, OK, where I went out on stage and tried to force the audience to lip sync Papa Roach with me.

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Examples

  • It appeared to me that she was lip syncing for most of it.

  • Playback singers record the songs off-screen in studios, while the actors and actresses lip-sync to them onscreen.

    Academic text (2006)

  • In fact, they knew it well enough to lip-sync it.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • So you can lip-sync to them properly.

    Sing Street (2016)

  • The record started, and I began to lip-sync the longest song of my life.

    Academic text (2009)

  • I lip-sync, I emcee, I dance.

    Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

  • If a fan found out that Rage was lip-syncing at a concert, they would lose a ton of credibility as an artist.

    Blog text (28)

  • She could sing it herself or lip-sync it, and you couldn't tell the difference.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • As with most hiplife performers, they lip-sync live shows to their own pre-recorded tracks.

    Academic text (2009)

  • In his most popular video to date, Oakley lip-syncs to Nicki Minaj.

    Blog text (30)

Synonyms

to mouth the words
vsto lip-sync
6 6.9

To move your lips to form words without making any sound

is performed in time with recorded audio rather than silent practice
to lip-synch
vsto lip-sync
  • UK
1 6.6

To move your lips to match recorded singing or speech so it looks like you sing

is the other spelling variant used for the same action

How Synchronized

to synchronize
  • Specialized
4 4.7
to lip-sync
  • US
11 4.6

Surface Forms

lip-sync infinitive
lip-synced past
lip-synced past participle
lip-syncing present participle
lip-syncs third person singular

Morphology

lip-sync = lip + sync (transparent) = lip + sync

Meaning is a straightforward compound of 'lip' + 'sync' (to move the lips in synchronization with recorded sound), so learners who know the components can derive the meaning.

Etymology

Lip-sync combines lip and sync, short for synchronize, which means 'at the same time'. So to lip-sync is to move your lips to 'match' recorded speech or music, making it look like you are really speaking or singing.