Definition of artifice
b
: an ingenious device or expedient
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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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There is no artifice to it, unlike Austin, which is self-consciously weird at this point.
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Sometimes the most effective songwriting doesn't attempt any artifice grander than capturing half a day in somebody's mental process.
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But there is one important difference between them: Stormy Daniels’s artifice is utterly forthright, all tools of a trade she neither excuses nor disavows.
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The music industry, of course, has its own entrenched structures of artifice.
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Sternberg's personality survives; what's missing is the soul that might have turned the artifice and self-parody into poetry.
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Few create an artifice so elaborate, artistic, and deflective.
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Thanks, Demi, for unapologetically cutting through the artifice of Hollywood.
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Desplechin's best films (Kings and Queen, A Christmas Tale) weave intimate stories into epic narratives, but the artifice here feels self-indulgent.
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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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