as in ruses
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 & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of artifices
Owens was initially indicted on one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices, one count of forgery, four counts of perjury and one count of tampering with physical evidence earlier this year.
—
Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Nov. 2025
Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for artifices
Noun
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The New York Colored American reported that some offers of short-term work for Black men — moving livestock to or from Kentucky, for example — were ruses that ended with kidnappings.—
Equal Justice Initiative,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
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Many suspect a spam call and don't pick up the phone, leading foundation staff to sometimes devise ruses.—
Kelly Meyerhofer,
jsonline.com,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Officials say the scammers' schemes range from the savvy to the sloppy -- and all are brazen.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Jan. 2026
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In Minnesota, investigators and journalists have raised serious questions about fraud schemes tied to networks that disproportionately benefited non-citizens, while the families actually paying into the system were left footing the bill.—
Jennifer Nassour,
Boston Herald,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Federal investigators in Guam believed the devices held evidence that would help prove individuals handling the island’s Covid unemployment assistance program were part of a plot to steal funds.—
Thomas Brewster,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
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With an undeletable presence embedded in the firmware of more than 600 million enterprise devices, Absolute delivers persistent visibility, control, and auto-repair capabilities that operate even when systems fail.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Our focus on our own ingroup makes our brains play tricks on us.—
Dev Patnaik,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
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Just another one of his show-stopping tricks.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Artifices.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/artifices. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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