Definition of artifice
b
: an ingenious device or expedient
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artifice was our Word of the Day on 05/02/2010. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of artifice in a Sentence
He spoke without artifice or pretense.
The whole story was just an artifice to win our sympathy.
Recent Examples of artifice from the Web
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Nunez pleaded guilty to a fraudulent schemes and artifices charge.
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Much like a Wilde comedy, everything here lies in plain view right on the surface — true to a milieu in which artifice and style channel all about the self that could not be fully expressed.
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What her personal loss has translated to is an artistic loss of her reliance on artifice.
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Both women were indicted on multiple felony charges prior to their arrest, including aggravated assault with a dangerous instrument, taking an identity of another, theft and fraudulent schemes and artifices, an Attorney General's press release said.
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This brief simulation—not too different, we are told, from aspects of police training—temporarily eliminates the artifice and viscerally illuminates dilemmas facing police.
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Morgan has a long track record of writing about British power in a way that peels back the artifice to expose the psychology beneath, and has explored QE2 before, in 2006's Helen Mirren-starring The Queen.
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You're stripped of all glamour and artifice on much of the show.
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There is no artifice to it, unlike Austin, which is self-consciously weird at this point.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'artifice.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The difference between art and artifice
Do great actors display artifice or art? Sometimes a bit of both. Artifice stresses creative skill or intelligence, but also implies a sense of falseness and trickery. Art generally rises above such falseness, suggesting instead an unanalyzable creative force. Actors may rely on some of each, but the personae they display in their roles are usually artificial creations. Therein lies a lexical connection between art and artifice. Artifice derives from artificium, Latin for artifice (that root also gave English artificial). Artificium in turn developed from ars, the Latin root underlying the word art (and related terms such as artist and artisan).
Origin and Etymology of artifice
Middle French, from Latin artificium, from artific-, artifex artificer, from Latin art-, ars + facere — see artifact
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: 1540
in the meaning defined at sense 1a
See Words from the same yearartifice Synonyms
Synonyms
cheating, cozenage, craft, craftiness, crookedness, crookery, cunning, cunningness, deceit, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissembling, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, fakery, foxiness, fraud, guile, guilefulness, wiliness;
Antonyms
artlessness, forthrightness, good faith, guilelessness, ingenuousness, sincerity;
Near Antonyms
candidness, candor, directness, frankness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness;
dependability, reliability, reliableness, solidity, trustability, trustiness, trustworthiness;
decency, goodness, incorruptibility, integrity, righteousness, truthfulness, uprightness, virtuousness;
Related Words
equivocation, lying, mendacity, prevarication;
chicane, chicanery, fraudulence, hanky-panky, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, swindling, trickery, wile;
falsehood, falsity, fib, untruth;
hypocrisy, insincerity, sanctimoniousness, two-facedness;
artfulness, caginess (also cageyness), deviousness, shrewdness;
treacherousness, underhandedness, unscrupulousness;
covertness, furtiveness, secrecy, shadiness, sneakiness, stealthiness;
oiliness, shiftiness, slickness, slipperiness, slyness, smoothness;
Synonym Discussion of artifice
trick, ruse, stratagem, maneuver, artifice, wile, feint mean an indirect means to gain an end. trick may imply deception, roguishness, illusion, and either an evil or harmless end.
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- the tricks of the trade
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- the ruses of smugglers
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- the stratagem-filled game
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- last-minute maneuvers to avert bankruptcy
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- the clever artifices of the stage
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- used all of his wiles to ingratiate himself
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- a feint toward the enemy's left flank
art, skill, cunning, artifice, craft mean the faculty of executing well what one has devised. art implies a personal, unanalyzable creative power.
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- the art of choosing the right word
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- the skill of a glassblower
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- a mystery plotted with great cunning
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- believed realism in film could be achieved only by artifice
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- the craft of a master goldsmith
ARTIFICE Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of artifice for English Language Learners
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: dishonest or insincere behavior or speech that is meant to deceive someone
ARTIFICE Defined for Kids
Definition of artifice for Students
: a clever trick or device
- She used every artifice to avoid work.
Law Dictionary
legal Definition of artifice
: a clever strategy usually intended to deceive or defraud
Learn More about artifice
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for artifice Spanish Central: Translation of artifice Nglish: Translation of artifice for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of artifice for Arabic speakers
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