on closer inspection

idiom

: when examined more closely

On closer inspection, the painting proved to be a fake.

Examples of on closer inspection in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Crew members rushed about, tending to the set’s various optical illusions, which included an Escher-like maze of stairwells, some real, some painted on a matte board, and two performers, playing Chinese folk music, who on closer inspection turned out to be a pair of paper cutouts. —Dennis Zhou, New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2025

But some of that evidence falls apart on closer inspection. —Zeyi Yang, Wired News, 21 Nov. 2025

One night in a typical testing session, two scientists discover that one of the rats appears to have died, but on closer inspection, its heartbeat is strikingly robust. —Scott Tobias, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2025

But on closer inspection, modern details emerge—the flush sundeck a top the boat, curved windows on the main deck and helm area, and, almost impossibly, a fold-out beach club at the stern. —Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 22 Oct. 2025

Rhymes for on closer inspection

• abjection
• advection
• affection
• bijection
• bisection
• collection
• complexion
• confection
• connection
• connexion
• convection
• correction