Idiom
face value
Meaning
No more or less than what is stated; a literal or direct meaning or interpretation.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Do not take his angry words at face value.”
“I usually take what my boss says at face value.”
“He takes every compliment at face value and never feels shy.”
“She took the invitation at face value and arrived exactly when the email said.”
“You should not accept every online review at face value because some companies pay people to write positive comments.”
“The detective refused to take the witness's story at face value and searched for more physical evidence.”
“If a stranger offers you a deal that seems too good to be true, you probably shouldn't accept the offer at face value without doing some research.”
“While the politician's promise sounded generous, experienced voters refused to take it at face value, suspecting hidden motives behind the proposal.”
Examples
simple
“Do not take his angry words at face value.”
“I usually take what my boss says at face value.”
“He takes every compliment at face value and never feels shy.”
contextual
“She took the invitation at face value and arrived exactly when the email said.”
“You should not accept every online review at face value because some companies pay people to write positive comments.”
“The detective refused to take the witness's story at face value and searched for more physical evidence.”
“If a stranger offers you a deal that seems too good to be true, you probably shouldn't accept the offer at face value without doing some research.”
complex
“While the politician's promise sounded generous, experienced voters refused to take it at face value, suspecting hidden motives behind the proposal.”
Origin
The term derives from the material distinction between the nominal value stamped upon a currency's face and its actual market value. The etymology rests upon this contrast, where the physical surface of a coin or note asserts a worth that the broader economy may or may not choose to acknowledge.
Key words
Related idioms
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