taken at face value
Believed without questioning
Taken at face value means accepted as true or genuine without deeper scrutiny or skepticism.
A face value is the worth printed on currency or tickets; to take something at face value is to accept what's presented on the surface: I took her apology at face value, though others suspected she was insincere.
The phrase often implies naive trust or deliberate choice not to probe further.
- trustedEarned belief in
- believedAccepted as true
- good faithSincere, honest intent
- acceptedFormally agreed to
- no questions askedWithout requiring explanation
benefit of the doubt · blind trust · literal · credible · trustworthy · straightforward · explicit · assumption · interpretation · plain · uncritical · honest · genuine · clear-cut · overt · naive · superficial · prima facie
taken at face valueread between the lines
Discern implicit meaning
scrutinized · deconstructed · probed · dissected · questioned
taken at face valuedoubted
Lacked certainty about
questioned · mistrusted · disbelieved · challenged · distrusted
taken at face valueread between the lines
Discern implicit meaning
interpreted · decoded · read into · unpacked · deconstructed
take, taken, taking, takers, undertake, undertaken, mistake, mistaken, face