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artless

[ahrt-lis]
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adjective
  1. free from deceit, cunning, or craftiness; ingenuous: an artless child.
  2. not artificial; natural; simple; uncontrived: artless beauty; artless charm.
  3. lacking art, knowledge, or skill.
  4. poorly made; inartistic; clumsy; crude: an artless translation.
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Origin of artless

First recorded in 1580–90; art1 + -less
Related formsart·less·ly, adverbart·less·ness, noun

Synonyms for artless

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1. naive, unsophisticated, guileless, open, frank, plain, unaffected, candid, sincere.

Antonyms for artless

1. cunning.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for artless

ingenuous, direct, genuine, guileless, honest, innocent, naive, natural, open, plain, pure, sincere, straight, straightforward, unadorned, unaffected, unpretentious, unsophisticated, true, uncontrived

Examples from the Web for artless

Contemporary Examples of artless

Historical Examples of artless

  • Milza endeavoured, in her own artless way, to soothe the distress her words had excited.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • Flora, who had been spoiled and artless long ago, was determined to be spoiled and artless now.

    Little Dorrit

    Charles Dickens

  • Some of the inscriptions were so artless as to provoke a smile.

  • "I thought you knowed everything, father," said the artless boy.

    A Tale of Two Cities

    Charles Dickens

  • Edwin had received from nature the gift of an honest and artless eloquence.

    Imogen

    William Godwin

British Dictionary definitions for artless

artless

adjective
  1. free from deceit, guile, or artfulness; ingenuousan artless remark
  2. natural, without artifice; unpretentiousartless elegance
  3. without art or skill
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Derived Formsartlessly, adverbartlessness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for artless

adj.

1580s, "unskillful," from art (n.) + -less. Later also "uncultured" (1590s); then "unartificial, natural" (1670s) and "guileless, ingenuous" (1714). Related: Artlessly; artlessness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper