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I found this answer: What does "to take someone at face value" mean?

However, it didn't offer a word that conveys this meaning.

The word I'm looking for should fit in a sentence,

When Bob asserted that zombies are a real threat, she took his word [at face value] by virtue of his credentials alone.

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  • I think you can use "as is", e.g. she took his word as is ...
    – Damkerng T.
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 18:40
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    I think your example is bordering on a "misuse". What you mean is unquestioningly, blindly, whereas "at face value" usually has the sense of literally (i.e. - without considering the possibility that the speaker might have meant something different, perhaps in a figurative sense, or as an unspoken implication).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 18:41
  • Edit In my sample sentence, the intent is to imply blindly rather than explicitly state it. The reader should arrive at that conclusion. Unquestioningly actually fits quite well.
    – crush
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 18:45
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    Then @FumbleFingers is right. If unquestioningly answers your question, you should have come up with a better question.
    – Robusto
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 23:17
  • @Robusto: That may be putting it a bit strong. The difference between accepting words at face value and unquestioningly is somewhat subtle. Having said that, if OP already knew that blindly was the required concept (but for some reason didn't want to use it in the actual sentence) it would obviously have been better to have at least told us that.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 23:31

4 Answers 4

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The word you might need is "unquestioningly". http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unquestioningly

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  • She took his words unquestioningly...
    – Louel
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 18:41
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    This is not correct. "At face value" means only that one saw no good reason to doubt someone else's honesty, even though those doubts may have presented themselves and been discounted.
    – Robusto
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 23:14
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Another possibility to consider is no word at all because one is unnecessary.

A word for [at face value] is superfluous given how the sentence reads without one:

When Bob asserted that zombies are a real threat, she took his word by virtue of his credentials alone.

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The literal truth. It's likely from the Latin Prima facie, but it might be from the idiom as plain as the nose on your face.

When Bob asserted that zombies are a real threat, she took his word as the literal truth by virtue of his credentials alone.

Those must be some impressive credentials.

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  • It's probably Saint Bob, whose credentials are indeed impeccable (except maybe in the specific area of "choosing names for one's children" :)
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 18:46
  • @FumbleFingers Perhaps. Perhaps not. I wouldn't take Max Brooks' word for it, and he has written on the subject.
    – Elliott Frisch
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 18:47
  • @ Elliot: Oh lummie! I already don't sleep so good because my mattress and pillows are stuffed with garlic cloves instead of goose down (to keep the vampires at bay). Apparently now I'll have to install a virus scanner on my telly too!
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 18:52
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    @FumbleFingers Get rid of the garlic, and just get a water bed. Then go to Church and ask for the Holy Water to fill it.
    – Elliott Frisch
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 18:59
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A word that means almost the same thing as 'at face value'is 'superficial'.

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  • "concerned only with the obvious or apparent". When Bob asserted that zombies are a real threat, she took his word superficially. Not bad.
    – crush
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 21:06
  • I agree that these two concepts are generally similar, but your answer doesn't seem to fit the spirit of the question; 'superficially' in common usage at least seems to mean "only at the surface level", so I would assume that "she took his word superficially" meant that, deeper down, she doubted him.
    – LSpice
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 22:18
  • @crush: I don't think you could reasonably use superficially like that. It would be a weird usage anyway, but would probably be taken to mean she gave little attention to what was said, rather than she interpreted what was said as plain truth, with no hidden subtext or contextual factors to be taken into account.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Feb 4, 2014 at 23:39

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