artifice

noun

ar·ti·fice ˈär-tə-fəs

Synonyms of artifice next

: clever or artful skill : ingenuity

… believing that characters had to be created from within rather than with artifice.—

Garson Kanin

: an ingenious device or expedient

: an artful stratagem : trick

… revising the state's constitution through a series of legal stratagems and artifices …—

W. Haywood Burns

: false or insincere behavior

social artifice

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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 it 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).

Choose the Right Synonym for 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.

the tricks of the trade

ruse stresses an attempt to mislead by a false impression.

the ruses of smugglers

stratagem implies a ruse used to entrap, outwit, circumvent, or surprise an opponent or enemy.

the stratagem-filled game

maneuver suggests adroit and skillful avoidance of difficulty.

last-minute maneuvers to avert bankruptcy

artifice implies ingenious contrivance or invention.

the clever artifices of the stage

wile suggests an attempt to entrap or deceive with false allurements.

used all of his wiles to ingratiate himself

feint implies a diversion or distraction of attention away from one's real intent.

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.

the art of choosing the right word

skill stresses technical knowledge and proficiency.

the skill of a glassblower

cunning suggests ingenuity and subtlety in devising, inventing, or executing.

a mystery plotted with great cunning

artifice suggests technical skill especially in imitating things in nature.

believed realism in film could be achieved only by artifice

craft may imply expertness in workmanship.

the craft of a master goldsmith

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 on the Web The artist, a visionary maximalist, is also a deft choreographer of the eye, moving it precisely, wildly, across dense thickets of worldly stuff, underscoring the distinctions between decoration (personal, expressive) and artifice (protective, deflective). —

The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2023 The musicians dressed like western gunslingers ready to face their end, and to counteract all the mythic imagery, the interviews are full of the kind of artifice other films edit out, including awkward exchanges between the band members and Scorsese, their stumbling inquisitor. —

Rob Tannenbaum, New York Times, 10 Aug. 2023 Oakley approaches the iconic role with absolutely no artifice so that her joy spending time outdoors among the mountains feels as earnest and sincere as teaching her young charges to sing. —

Terry Byrne, BostonGlobe.com, 19 July 2023 Yet Gerwig’s artifice defies the special feeling that females might know — the fulfilling, personal escape into free femininity, childbearing, family, homemaking, and romance that should be the essence of a Barbie movie. —

Armond White, National Review, 19 July 2023 While the drama and artifice will never disappear from his work, which is a good thing, both sides of Adan seem more at peace and in cooperation than ever before on The Fool. —

Richard Villegas, Rolling Stone, 19 Apr. 2023 Enter Email Sign Up In Burton’s telling, self-creation forms the third leg of a triangle composed of artifice and authenticity. —

Rhoda Feng, BostonGlobe.com, 29 June 2023 Onstage or on-screen, Pence gives off a curious mix of sincerity and artifice, like a preacher who has spent a lot of time watching himself on tape. —

T.a. Frank, Washington Post, 28 June 2023 Her looming presence throughout can sometimes distract the reader from the plot, and her self-conscious artifice risks undermining these otherwise convincing characters. —

Jonathan Russell Clark, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'artifice.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Anglo-French & Middle French, "trade, craft, craftsmanship, contrivance," borrowed from Latin artificium "artistry, craftsmanship, craft, craftiness, cunning," from artific-, artifex "practitioner of an art, specialist, craftsman, creator" (from art-, ars "acquired skill, craftsmanship" + -fic-, -fex, agentive derivative of facere "to make, bring about, do") + -ium, denominal or deverbal suffix of function or state — more at art entry 1, fact

First Known Use

1540, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler

The first known use of artifice was in 1540

See more words from the same year