Meanings
- apparently, outwardly; superficially
On the surface, the film is a globe-trotting gross-out caper in which Nobby, who's from a hellish version of the titular Lincolnshire town ("twinned with Chernobyl"), is reunited with his long-lost brother Sebastian (Mark Strong), who has become a spy for the British secret services.
2016 February 23, Robbie Collin, “Grimsby review: ' Sacha Baron Cohen's vital, venomous action movie'”, in The Daily Telegraph (London)Synonyms: at first glance, at first sight, on the face of it
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseapparently, outwardly; superficially
Cite this entry
on the surface. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20surface
“on the surface.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20surface. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on the surface,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20surface.
Source: on the surface on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.