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AT FIRST SIGHT
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I. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
On first seeing (someone or something); immediately
Example:
it was love at first sight
Synonyms:
at first glance; at first sight
Classified under:
Sense 2
Meaning:
After an initial impression, which later proves incorrect
Synonyms:
at first glance; at first sight
Classified under:
Context examples:
At first sight, his address is certainly not striking; and his person can hardly be called handsome, till the expression of his eyes, which are uncommonly good, and the general sweetness of his countenance, is perceived.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
The face, with large features and strong lines, of the square order, yet well filled out, was apparently massive at first sight; but again, as with the body, the massiveness seemed to vanish, and a conviction to grow of a tremendous and excessive mental or spiritual strength that lay behind, sleeping in the deeps of his being.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
“I think, perhaps, we had better go down to Tredannick Wartha without further delay. I confess that I have seldom known a case which at first sight presented a more singular problem.”
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The problem of the descent is at first sight a formidable one, said he, and yet I cannot doubt that the intellect can solve it.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Wholly untaught, with faculties quite torpid, they seemed to me hopelessly dull; and, at first sight, all dull alike: but I soon found I was mistaken.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
I would not have dwelt so long upon a circumstance that, perhaps, at first sight, may appear not very momentous, if I had not thought it necessary to justify my character, in point of cleanliness, to the world; which, I am told, some of my maligners have been pleased, upon this and other occasions, to call in question.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
The case has been an interesting one, remarked Holmes when our visitors had left us, because it serves to show very clearly how simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight seems to be almost inexplicable.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He is better equipped for a rough expedition of this sort than one would imagine at first sight.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
His manner was polite; his accent, in speaking, struck me as being somewhat unusual,—not precisely foreign, but still not altogether English: his age might be about Mr. Rochester's,—between thirty and forty; his complexion was singularly sallow: otherwise he was a fine-looking man, at first sight especially.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
It seems to have been a special nest of these vermins, and the slopes were alive with them, all writhing in our direction, for it is a peculiarity of the Jaracaca that he will always attack man at first sight.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
