take at face value

English

Alternative forms

• accept at face value

Verb

take at face value (third-person singular simple present takes at face value, present participle taking at face value, simple past took at face value, past participle taken at face value)

1. (transitive, figuratively) Accept as presented, without question or further investigation.

   Synonyms: take on trust, take on faith

   Antonyms: take with a grain of salt, read between the lines

   • 1991, Douglas Coupland, “New Zealand Gets Nuked, Too”, in Generation X, New York: St. Martin's Press, →OCLC:

     Our parents’ generation seems neither able nor interested in understanding how marketers exploit them. They take shopping at face value.

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: uskoa sellaisenaan, ottaa täydestä, ottaa todesta
• French: prendre pour argent comptant (fr)
• German: etwas für bare Münze nehmen (de)
• Greek: παίρνω τοις μετρητοίς (el) (paírno tois metritoís)
• Italian: prendere per buona moneta
• Latvian: pieņemt par skaidru zeltu (accept as clear gold)
• Polish: brać za dobrą monetę impf, wziąć za dobrą monetę pf, przyjmować za dobrą monetę (pl) impf, przyjąć za dobrą monetę pf
• Romanian: lua de bun
• Russian: принима́ть за чи́стую моне́ту (ru) impf (prinimátʹ za čístuju monétu), приня́ть за чи́стую моне́ту pf (prinjátʹ za čístuju monétu)
• Spanish: al pie de la letra (es) m or f

See also

• on the face of it
• take seriously
• take someone at their word

Further reading

• “take sth at face value”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “take someone something at face value” (US) / “take someone something at face value” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “take something at face value” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.