ADVERB
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from appearances alone
on the face of it the problem seems minor
had been ostensibly frank as to his purpose while really concealing it
irrigation often produces bumper crops from apparently desert land
the child is seemingly healthy but the doctor is concerned
How To Use on the face of it In A Sentence
- This sounds on the face of it a strong argument, but it is unlikely to carry any practical weight.
- On the face of it, the move appeared to be a disaster for May. Times, Sunday Times
- If the anti-abortionist can show that the foetus is a person, then ‘you mustn't kill people’ becomes a good reason not to allow abortion - although it's also, on the face of it, a good reason not to allow capital punishment.
- Yet their slide towards obscurity - Liverpool supporters have been starved of silverware - has not only been halted, but looks, on the face of it, to be making a swift volte-face.
- However, the principals' lyric voices are not, on the face of it, weighty enough for the roles of Leonora and Manrico.
- The metric imperial system is, on the face of it, simpler than imperial. Times, Sunday Times
- On the face of it, this brave little dwelling of wood and reeds is a complete contrast to a gleaming penthouse overlooking Hyde Park, but they're both among the fussiest residences of their eras. £140m for a flat? Perhaps the buyer would like to see my Kilburn des res
- And I think that we found that they are not as dissimilar as they seem on the face of it.
- On the face of it, this is an unlikely film to wield such influence. Times, Sunday Times
- On the face of it that question had to be answered in the affirmative. Times, Sunday Times