at face value

idiom

1
: for the price that is printed on something
We bought the tickets at face value.
2
: as true or genuine without being questioned or doubted
After all his lying, nothing he says now should be taken/accepted at face value.

Examples of at face value in a Sentence

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These candidates are asked to demonstrate or justify their skills and experience rather than having their resumes taken at face value. Liz Kislik, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025 Yet whereas Taxi Driver ends in a sequence of redemptive carnage, First Reformed swerves in its last moments into a scene so ostentatiously at odds with everything coming before that accepting it at face value would seem to mean denying the film up to that point had anything serious to say. Roy Scranton august 20, Literary Hub, 20 Aug. 2025 Taken at face value, the economy is doing just fine. Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025 Mandel criticized the media for accepting Hamas’s claims at face value, which exaggerates the crisis and undermines non-Hamas aid efforts. Amy Delaura, The Washington Examiner, 13 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for at face value

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Cite this Entry

“At face value.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/at%20face%20value. Accessed 5 Sep. 2025.

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