at first blush

idiom

: when first seen or considered
At first blush, the proposal seems ridiculous.

Examples of at first blush in a Sentence

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Reinventing a product that sits at the very heart of someone’s daily rhythm doesn’t exactly sound like a winning formula at first blush, but for MUD\WTR, that disruption became its superpower. Alexander Puutio, Forbes.com, 16 Jan. 2026 But at first blush, the 2026 nominations seem… fine. Ben Travers, IndieWire, 7 Jan. 2026 This may seem hopeless at first blush; the next nearest star is 10,000 times farther away than Neptune, so even in this best-case scenario, any comets beyond our solar system would be impossibly faint. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 20 Nov. 2025 Kentucky and other states across the country have had to deal with vanity plates that at first blush appear to be problematic. Ray Padilla, Louisville Courier Journal, 29 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for at first blush

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Cite this Entry

“At first blush.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/at%20first%20blush. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.

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