1
as in cunning
skill in achieving one's ends through indirect, subtle, or underhanded means
with well-practiced artfulness, he convinced his mother he was sick enough to stay home from school but not sick enough for a visit to the doctor's office
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in skill
subtle or imaginative ability in inventing, devising, or executing something
building a ship model requires a painstaking artfulness I don't have
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of artfulness
Mike Bowman, designer, furniture industry expert, and director of marketing for Harmonia Living, says this trend relies on furnishings to bring artfulness to a space—rather than just functionality.
—
Patricia Shannon, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Jan. 2026
There is a real seriousness to the score — the scheming bad-guy music has the artfulness of Prokofiev, and even the sneaking-around cues have musical integrity and structure.
—Tim Greiving, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025
All things considered, each of the couple’s selections exudes artfulness — prioritizing top-quality design and materials meant to last a lifetime.
—Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Patricia Shannon, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Jan. 2026
There is a real seriousness to the score — the scheming bad-guy music has the artfulness of Prokofiev, and even the sneaking-around cues have musical integrity and structure.
—Tim Greiving, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025
All things considered, each of the couple’s selections exudes artfulness — prioritizing top-quality design and materials meant to last a lifetime.
—Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for artfulness
Noun
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Holding viewers by the throat for a handful of strong beats, even as the script slips through the entire cast’s fingers, the devilish actor sells Besson’s interpretation on charisma and cunning.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Strategy and cunning or physicality and grace?—
Zack Pierce,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Using skills, Codex can pull design assets from Figma, manage bug tracking and releases in Linear, deploy applications to cloud platforms such as Vercel and Cloudflare, and generate images using OpenAI’s image model.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
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Kate had changed her hair into a stylish bob — but apparently hadn’t updated her mothering skills — two years later when, in the sequel, Kevin again was discovered missing, at the Miami airport.—
Jocelyn Noveck,
Mercury News,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The brain is also far more adept at handling things like ambiguity, subtlety, and nuance.—
Matthew S Williams,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Its recent popularity stems from its subtlety, Mercedes adds.—
Jacqueline Kilikita,
Refinery29,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Like the tricksters of myth, there’s depth to their slyness.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Ay, the superb slyness of that last response!—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Artfulness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/artfulness. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
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