on the face of it

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

on the face of it

1. (idiomatic) Seemingly; to all appearances; as far as can be seen or determined without deeper investigation or analysis.

   On the face of it, his case seemed hopeless. But appearances can be deceptive.

Synonyms

• at first glance, apparently, prima facie; see also Thesaurus:ostensibly

Translations

as far as can be seen or determined

• Arabic: عَلَى مَا يَبْدُوْ (ʕalā mā yabduw), لِأَوَّلِ وَهْلَةٍ (liʔawwali wahlatin)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 從表面上看／从表面上看 (cóng biǎomiàn shàng kàn)

• Finnish: päällisin puolin (fi), ensi katsomalta, ulkonaisesti (fi), pintapuolisesti (fi)
• French: en apparence (fr), a priori (fr)
• Hebrew: לִכְאוֹרָה (he) (lichora)
• Hungarian: ránézésre
• Polish: na pierwszy rzut oka (pl)
• Russian: по-ви́димому (ru) (po-vídimomu), на пе́рвый взгляд (ru) (na pérvyj vzgljad)

See also

• ex facie
• prima facie
• on the face of
• on the face of the earth
• take at face value