artificial

artificial

adjective

Definition of ARTIFICIAL

1

lacking in natural or spontaneous quality <the beauty-pageant contestants' artificial smiles looked like they were glued on their faces>

Synonyms affected, assumed, bogus, contrived, factitious, fake, false, feigned, forced, mechanical, mock, phony (also phoney), plastic, pretended, pseudo, put-on, sham, simulated, spurious, strained, unnatural

Related Words automatic, canned, concocted, fabricated, hokey, labored, manufactured, pat, unauthentic, unreal, unrealistic; double-dealing, empty, facile, hollow, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, two-faced, unctuous; exaggerated, histrionic, melodramatic, overacted, overdone, theatrical (also theatric); cute, cutesy, genteel, goody-goody, mincing, overrefined, simpering; conventional, formal, impersonal, inflexible, rigid, stiff, stylized, wooden; artful, calculated, conscious, cultivated, deliberate, premeditated, studied

Near Antonyms authentic, bona fide, real, realistic, right, true; honest, ingenuous, sincere, unpretending; easy, effortless, smooth; extemporaneous, impromptu, impulsive, instinctive, unconscious, unprompted, unrehearsed, unstudied

Antonyms artless, genuine, natural, spontaneous, unaffected, uncontrived, unfeigned, unforced

2

not being or expressing what one appears to be or express <the familiar sight of the award winner accepting the artificial congratulations of the other nominees>

Synonyms artificial, backhanded, counterfeit, double, double-dealing, double-faced, fake, feigned, hypocritical, Janus-faced, jive [slang], left-handed, lip, mealy, mealymouthed, Pecksniffian, phony (also phoney), phony-baloney (or phoney-baloney), pretended, two-faced, unctuous

Related Words affected, assumed, claptrap, contrived, forced, mechanical, put-on, simulated, strained, unnatural; empty, hollow, meaningless; deceitful, devious, dishonest, false, untruthful; facile, glib, superficial; bogus, sham; campy, facetious, jocular, tongue-in-cheek; canting, pharisaical, pious, sanctimonious, self-righteous, simon-pure

Near Antonyms direct, forthright, frank, heart-to-heart, open, plain, straightforward

Antonyms artless, candid, genuine, heartfelt, honest, sincere, undesigning, unfeigned

3

being such in appearance only and made with or manufactured from usually cheaper materials <artificial fruit made from wax>

Synonyms artificial, bogus, dummy, ersatz, factitious, fake, false, faux, imitative, man-made, mimic, mock, pretend, sham, simulated, substitute, synthetic

Related Words cultured, manufactured, process; unauthentic; adulterated, designer, doctored, engineered, fudged, juggled, manipulated, tampered (with); concocted, fabricated; counterfeit, deceptive, forged, fraudulent, misleading, phony (also phoney); affected, brummagem, feigned, pinchbeck, pseudo, spurious

Near Antonyms authentic, bona fide, legitimate, true; premium, quality, valuable; pure, unadulterated

Antonyms genuine, natural, real

4

produced by humans rather than natural processes <I find that artificial sweeteners often have an odd aftertaste>

Synonyms artificial, man-made, nonnatural

Related Words fabricated, manufactured; cultivated, processed, refined; industrial, mechanical; ersatz, faux, imitation

Near Antonyms crude, raw

Antonyms natural