artful

adjective art·ful \ ˈärt-fəl \

|Updated on: 30 Jul 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: artful in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

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

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artfully

play \-fə-lē\ adverb

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artfulness

noun

See artful defined for English-language learners

See artful defined for kids

Examples of artful in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of artful from the Web

Their narcissism is repellent yet riveting, and Mr. Côté comes at his subjects with an artful, exploratory obliqueness that’s endearingly curious, as if discovering a whole new species.

— denis côté, New York Times, "Review: Six Strongmen Cultivate ‘A Skin So Soft’," 5 July 2018
Arts and Crafts Weekly: Create and decorate artful projects.

— mary lou cruz, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Coral Springs area events July 18-28," 13 July 2018
Osteria Francescana, a restaurant in Modena, Italy that serves innovative and artful Italian food, was named the world’s best restaurant on Monday.

— mckenna moore, Fortune, "This Is the World's Best Restaurant for 2018," 19 June 2018
Ratcheting up from a relatively tame Candace Owens video to a photo of him wearing a MAGA hat is pretty artful from a drawing-out-the-drama standpoint.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "DI Chat: Kanye Goes MAGA," 26 Apr. 2018
The waterfront corporation plans to improve the Columbia Avenue underpass with an artful lighting scheme, similar to the ones at Race and Spring Garden streets.

— inga saffron, Philly.com, "Will a new riverfront concert venue close the gap between Fishtown and the Delaware - or widen it?," 28 June 2018
Catfish are bottom feeders, often eating dead fish, and the artful stink bait maker’s goal is to create a scent that will attract the whisker fish in the dark summer waters.

— ernie cowan, sandiegouniontribune.com, "The cats come out at night," 23 June 2018
And unlike the root vegetables of autumn which are all about slow roasting, or the bitter winter produce that really only comes into its own with much artful braising, good summertime ingredients call for little (or nothing) else.

— skye mcalpine, Vogue, "How to Host a Gorgeous Summer Dinner Party Without Cooking," 22 June 2018
The pros have refined diving into an artful tactic that can yield a critical edge in a highly-physical contest, even when the eyes of the world are upon them.

— umair irfan, Vox, "Why soccer players take dives," 21 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'artful.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

A writer may produce an artful piece of prose, one that's clearly and elegantly written. The same writer might also make an artful argument, one that cleverly leaves out certain details and plays up others so as to make a stronger case. In the first instance, the prose is well crafted; in the second, the argument might instead be called crafty. But even though both uses are correct, most of us still use artful somewhat differently from artistic.

First Known Use of artful

1583

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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artful Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of artful

sly, cunning, crafty, wily, tricky, foxy, artful, slick mean attaining or seeking to attain one's ends by guileful or devious means. sly implies furtiveness, lack of candor, and skill in concealing one's aims and methods.

- a sly corporate raider

cunning suggests the inventive use of sometimes limited intelligence in overreaching or circumventing.

- the cunning fox avoided the trap

crafty implies cleverness and subtlety of method.

- a crafty lefthander

wily implies skill and deception in maneuvering.

- the wily fugitive escaped the posse

tricky is more likely to suggest shiftiness and unreliability than skill in deception and maneuvering.

- a tricky political operative

foxy implies a shrewd and wary craftiness usually involving devious dealing.

- a foxy publicity man planting stories

artful implies indirectness in dealing and often connotes sophistication or cleverness.

- elicited the information by artful questioning

slick emphasizes smoothness and guile.

- slick operators selling time-sharing

ARTFUL Defined for English Language Learners

artful

adjective

Definition of artful for English Language Learners

: done with or showing artistic skill
: good at getting or achieving things in ways that are clever and not noticeable : used to get or achieve things in ways that are clever and not noticeable