at first blush

Idioms  

1. Also,. When first seen. For example, At first blush we thought it was an elegant restaurant, but it soon became obvious that it was hardly the place for a special dinner, or At first glance the contract looked just fine. All three phrases date from the 1300s. The noun blush is used with the obsolete meaning “glimpse” or “momentary view” and in this idiom has nothing to do with showing embarrassment. Also see love at first sight.

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Example Sentences

Memories get classified in ways that seem at first blush straightforward.

From The Wall Street Journal

Even then, his "logic" falls apart at first blush.

From Salon

The whole idea of a tourist attraction built as a guileless ode to love, and shrine to a Slovak poem, may strike you, at first blush, as defying both rhyme and reason.

From New York Times

That such discoveries were made at a cancer center isn't as surprising as it might seem at first blush.

From Science Daily

He also brought on two new advisors, one of whom seems odd at first blush but makes perfect sense upon examination: Bob Myers.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• evidently
• officially
• seemingly
• supposedly