on sight
24
3.3
- idiom
:
al verlo
- The security guards will detain trespassers on sight to protect the property.
- shoot on sight
- kill on sight
- arrest on sight
Examples
-
Her back was to him, and he knew on sight that now she'd literally forgotten he was here.
Fiction book (1991) -
There is something about this guy that makes us dislike him on sight.
Fiction book (1993) -
And the pure, sweet child had trusted him on sight.
Fiction book (1999) -
I wish I could say that I loved Magda on sight when I first met her, and for all the right reasons.
Fiction book (1995) -
Barker disliked the man on sight, but came to truly hate him before the voyage was over.
Fiction book (1997) -
The predator attacks its prey on sight, leaving no chance for escape.
-
He recognized his childhood friend on sight at the reunion.
Synonyms
78
3.3
When you first see something and notice or feel something right away
32
3.5
You notice something before you look more closely
9
3.0
With a quick look you notice something right away
Antonyms
How Immediate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'immediately/as soon as something is seen' is directly derivable from combining 'on' (indicating time/condition: at the moment of) with 'sight' (the act of seeing), following a common English preposition + noun temporal/conditional pattern. This compositional logic is common cross-linguistically (e.g., Spanish 'al ver', French 'à la vue de'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
On sight comes from the simple image of doing something at the very moment you see it. Imagine a guard told to act as soon as he spots someone—so on sight means 'immediately' or 'as soon as something is seen'.