artifice

1 a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end used the artifice of saying his grandmother had died so that he could get the last seat on the plane Synonyms trick, device, dodge, fetch, flimflam, gambit, gimmick, jig, juggle, knack, play, ploy, scheme, shenanigan, sleight, stratagem, wileRelated Words bluff, end run, feint; cheating, chicanery, cozenage, craft, crookery, cunning, deception, dupery, duplicity, fakery, jugglery, legerdemain, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, swindling, trickery; fraud, gaff, hoax, sham, swindle; blind, front, smoke screen

2 skill in achieving one's ends through indirect, subtle, or underhanded means using their artifice, the Greeks crafted a hollow wooden horse to hide inside and thereby gained entry into the city of Troy Synonyms artfulness, cunning, caginess (also cageyness), canniness, craft, craftiness, cunningness, deviousness, foxiness, guile, guilefulness, slickness, slyness, sneakiness, subtleness, subtlety, wilinessRelated Words calculation, care, design; savvy, sharpness, shrewdness; cleverness, ingeniousness, ingenuity, inventiveness; ease, facility, finesse; deceitfulness, duplicity, shiftiness, underhandedness

3 subtle or imaginative ability in inventing, devising, or executing something a painting that could only have been created with the artifice of a master Synonyms adeptness, adroitness, art, artfulness, skill, artistry, cleverness, craft, cunning, deftness, masterfulness, skillfulnessRelated Words dexterity, ease, finesse, handiness; experience, expertise, expertness, know-how, proficiency; creativity, ingenuity, inventiveness, knowledge, learning; aptitude, bent, flair, gift, knack, talentNear Antonyms amateurishness, awkwardness, clumsiness, crudeness, klutziness, rudeness; inability, inadequacy, inadequateness, incapability, incapacity, incompetence, ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, ineffectualness, inefficacy, inefficiencyAntonyms artlessness, ineptitude, ineptness, maladroitness

4 the inclination or practice of misleading others through lies or trickery a crook who is a master of artifice and manipulation Synonyms deceit, cheating, cozenage, craft, craftiness, crookedness, crookery, cunning, cunningness, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissembling, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, fakery, foxiness, fraud, guile, guilefulness, wilinessRelated Words equivocation, lying, mendacity, prevarication; chicane, chicanery, fraudulence, hanky-panky, jugglery, legerdemain, mountebankery, obliquity, 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, smoothnessNear Antonyms candidness, candor, directness, frankness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness; honesty, probity; dependability, reliability, reliableness, solidity, trustability, trustiness, trustworthiness; decency, goodness, incorruptibility, integrity, righteousness, truthfulness, uprightness, virtuousnessAntonyms artlessness, forthrightness, good faith, guilelessness, ingenuousness, sincerity

5 the use of clever underhanded actions to achieve an end if she has to resort to artifice to get a man, well, she's prepared to do that Synonyms trickery, chicane, chicanery, gamesmanship, hanky-panky, jiggery-pokery, jugglery, legerdemain, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, wileRelated Words artfulness, caginess (also cageyness), craftiness, cunning, deviousness, foxiness, oiliness, shadiness, sharpness, shiftiness, shrewdness, slickness, slipperiness, slyness, sneakiness, treachery, underhandedness, wiliness; crookedness, crookery, cunning, deceit, deceitfulness, deception, deceptiveness, dishonesty, dissimulation, double-dealing, dupery, duplicity, guile, guilefulness, hypocrisy, insincerity; fakery, humbuggery, imposture, quackery; dirty pool, dirty tricks; design, plotting, scheming, secrecy, stealthNear Antonyms artlessness, forthrightness, guilelessness, ingenuousness, sincerity; candidness, candor, directness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness