on the face of it meaning

• Adverb: on the face of it
  1. From appearances alone
     "on the face of it the problem seems minor"
     - apparently, seemingly, ostensibly
• 
  [American idiom]
  superficially; from the way it looks.
  • This looks like a serious problem on the face of it. It probably is minor, however.
  • On the face of it, it seems worthless.
  
• 
  [American slang]
  Fig. superficially; from the way it looks.
    This looks like a serious problem on the face of it. It probably is minor, however.
    On the face of it, it seems worthless.

• face:    Noun: face &n ...
• in the face of:    In defiance of, de ...
• face to face:    Adverb: face to fa ...

Examples

1. on the face of it, he seems to be telling the truth though i suspect he is hiding something.
2. on the face of it, the document seemed genuine
3. on the face of it, she seems almost perfect
4. on the face of it, that makes for a successful club
5. on the face of it, dangers galore