artifice
a clever trick or stratagem; a cunning, crafty device or expedient; wile.
trickery; guile; craftiness.
cunning; ingenuity; inventiveness: a drawing-room comedy crafted with artifice and elegance.
a skillful or artful contrivance or expedient.
Origin of artifice
1synonym study For artifice
Other words for artifice
Words Nearby artifice
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use artifice in a sentence
Limbro was excellent, and I kind of loved how the show made no attempt to justify its obvious artifice.
Two Feminists Who Love Reality TV Wrap Their Minds Around the FBoy Island Finale | Eliana Dockterman | August 13, 2021 | TimeHer large-scale photographs spike tired conventions of documentary portraiture with freewheeling artifice and invention.
Dawoud Bey, Jasper Johns and ‘Automania’ are among the many compelling reasons to visit museums this summer | Sebastian Smee | June 11, 2021 | Washington PostLike all of the show’s greatest set pieces, it was a stunning fusion of high artifice and deeply felt emotion.
Pose Was More Than Just a TV Show. It Changed the Culture, Onscreen and Off | Judy Berman | June 3, 2021 | TimeIt might seem out of place on our busy modern calendars — a day shorn, like Rogers’ Hallmark tree, of artifice and pomp.
We Need More Kindness in Our Lives: Let's Make 143 Day a National Holiday to Honor Mr. Rogers' Legacy | Gregg Behr and Ryan Rydzewski | May 21, 2021 | TimeLiza’s authentic warmth is such a refreshing antidote to Halston’s chilly artifice that a full-on dual portrait might have worked better to deepen both characters.
Netflix's Lush, Disappointing Halston Struggles to Say Something New About the Legendary Fashion Designer | Judy Berman | May 14, 2021 | Time
There is usually something transparent about the artifice required by famous artists trying to remain current.
Bratis, who trained in Athens, creates pieces of “femininity and pure elegance without artifice.”
Is This the End of CR Fashion Book?; Armani Names New Protégé | The Fashion Beast Team | August 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTPoint of view is inconsistent and Berg employs enough obvious filmic artifice to keep reminding us we are watching dramatization.
“Faye always tried to advance his own idea of the institution by judicial artifice,” Lecourt told Le Monde.
The collection is by turn bizarre, hilarious, unpredictable, all of it without a single note of artifice.
He used every artifice to prevent a collision between the French and Neapolitan troops.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonThis way of owning Guilt in a wrong Place, is a common artifice to hide it in a right one.
A Letter from Mr. Cibber to Mr. Pope | Colley Cibberartifice is always strictly subordinated, and the poet seems to sing spontaneously.
Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred DownerThen you would recommend rank rebellion, either by force or artifice, according as circumstances might require?
The Daughters of Danaus | Mona CairdHe listened, fascinated, incredulous, asking himself if human artifice could invent such a history.
The Woman Gives | Owen Johnson
British Dictionary definitions for artifice
/ (ˈɑːtɪfɪs) /
a clever expedient; ingenious stratagem
crafty or subtle deception
skill; cleverness
a skilfully contrived device
obsolete craftsmanship
Origin of artifice
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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