artful

art·ful

adjective \ˈärt-fəl\

Definition of ARTFUL

1

: performed with or showing art or skill <an artful performance on the violin>

2

a : using or characterized by art and skill : dexterous <an artful prose stylist>

b : adroit in attaining an end usually by insinuating or indirect means : wily <an artful cross-examiner>

3

: artificial <trim walks and artful bowers — William Wordsworth>

— art·ful·ly \-fə-lē\ adverb

— art·ful·ness noun

Examples of ARTFUL

1. <the artful lawyer got the witness to admit he had been lying>
2. <that kitchen gadget is an artful tool for extracting cherry pits>

First Known Use of ARTFUL

1609

Related to ARTFUL

Synonyms

beguiling, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, cute, designing, devious, dodgy [chiefly British], foxy, guileful, scheming, shrewd, slick, sly, subtle, tricky, wily

Antonyms

artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, undesigning

Related Words

astute, facile, glib, sharp; crooked, deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, fraudulent, insinuating, knavish, Machiavellian, oblique, serpentine, shady, shifty, slippery, sneaky, treacherous, underhand, underhanded, unscrupulous; backhanded, double-dealing, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, smooth-tongued, two-faced; circuitous, circular, roundabout; clandestine, concealed, covert, furtive, hugger-mugger, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover; calculating, plotting

Near Antonyms

obvious, open, patent, plain, public, unconcealed; aboveboard, candid, direct, forthright, frank, honest, natural, outspoken, plainspoken, real, simple, sincere, straightforward, unaffected, unpretending, unpretentious, unvarnished; childlike, impressionable, simpleminded, unsophisticated, unworldly; unforced, unstudied; trustful, trusting

See Synonym Discussion at sly