on the face of it

phrase

: from only what is known at first

On the face of it, her proposal seems ridiculous—maybe it will sound better when we learn more about it.

Examples of on the face of it in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The only punishment that would truly have hurt them would have been the kind of points deduction that other clubs have faced for, on the face of it, lesser offences. — Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2026

The job of the sub is simple, on the face of it. — Christine Smallwood, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026

The World Bank’s global economic forecast for the year ahead was, on the face of it, full of good news for African countries. — Alexis Akwagyiram, semafor.com, 14 Jan. 2026

Still, since these LLMs continue to ace exams and dominate humans in coding competitions, their underperformance here is, on the face of it, puzzling. — Tharin Pillay, Time, 13 Jan. 2026

Rhymes for on the face of it

• acquit
• admit
• armpit
• backlit
• befit
• cockpit
• commit
• dalit
• dendrite
• emit
• illite
• misfit