artificial

1 lacking in natural or spontaneous quality the beauty-pageant contestants' artificial smiles looked like they were glued on their faces Synonyms affected, assumed, bogus, contrived, factitious, fake, false, feigned, forced, mechanical, mock, phony (also phoney), plastic, pretended, pseudo, put-on, sham, simulated, spurious, strained, unnatural Related Words automatic, canned, concocted, fabricated, hokey, labored, manufactured, pat, unauthentic, unreal, unrealistic; double-dealing, empty, facile, hollow, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, two-faced, unctuous; exaggerated, histrionic, melodramatic, overacted, overdone, theatrical (also theatric); cute, cutesy, genteel, goody-goody, mincing, overrefined, simpering; conventional, formal, impersonal, inflexible, rigid, stiff, stylized, wooden; artful, calculated, conscious, cultivated, deliberate, premeditated, studied Near Antonyms authentic, bona fide, real, realistic, right, true; honest, ingenuous, sincere, unpretending; easy, effortless, smooth; extemporaneous, impromptu, impulsive, instinctive, unconscious, unprompted, unrehearsed, unstudied Antonyms artless, genuine, natural, spontaneous, unaffected, uncontrived, unfeigned, unforced

2 not being or expressing what one appears to be or express the familiar sight of the award winner accepting the artificial congratulations of the other nominees Synonyms insincere, backhanded, counterfeit, double, double-dealing, double-faced, fake, feigned, hypocritical, Janus-faced, jive [slang], left-handed, lip, mealy, mealymouthed, Pecksniffian, phony (also phoney), phony-baloney (or phoney-baloney), pretended, two-faced, unctuousRelated Words affected, assumed, claptrap, contrived, forced, mechanical, put-on, simulated, strained, unnatural; empty, hollow, meaningless; deceitful, devious, dishonest, false, untruthful; facile, glib, superficial; bogus, sham; campy, facetious, jocular, tongue-in-cheek; canting, pharisaical, pious, sanctimonious, self-righteous, simon-pureNear Antonyms direct, forthright, frank, heart-to-heart, open, plain, straightforwardAntonyms artless, candid, genuine, heartfelt, honest, sincere, undesigning, unfeigned

3 being such in appearance only and made with or manufactured from usually cheaper materials artificial fruit made from wax Synonyms imitation, bogus, dummy, ersatz, factitious, fake, false, faux, imitative, man-made, mimic, mock, pretend, sham, simulated, substitute, syntheticRelated Words cultured, manufactured, process; unauthentic; adulterated, designer, doctored, engineered, fudged, juggled, manipulated, tampered (with); concocted, fabricated; counterfeit, deceptive, forged, fraudulent, misleading, phony (also phoney); affected, brummagem, feigned, pinchbeck, pseudo, spuriousNear Antonyms authentic, bona fide, legitimate, true; premium, quality, valuable; pure, unadulteratedAntonyms genuine, natural, real

4 produced by humans rather than natural processes I find that artificial sweeteners often have an odd aftertaste Synonyms synthetic, man-made, nonnaturalRelated Words fabricated, manufactured; cultivated, processed, refined; industrial, mechanical; ersatz, faux, imitationNear Antonyms crude, rawAntonyms natural