artificiality

American  

[ahr-tuh-fish-ee-al-i-tee] / ˌɑr təˌfɪʃ iˈæl ɪ ti /

noun

artificialities plural

1. artificial quality.

2. an artificial thing or trait.

   artificialities of speech.

---

Usage

What does artificiality mean? Artificiality is the quality of being artificial—made or manufactured as opposed to occurring naturally. Artificial is often used as the opposite of natural. A close synonym of artificial is synthetic. This sense of the word is often used in the context of food to describe things like ingredients, flavors, additives, and preservatives that are chemically processed. Food packaging often specifies whether a product has natural or artificial flavors (or both). An artificial sweetener is a kind of chemical used as a substitute for sugar, such as in diet sodas. Artificial is not only used in the context of food. Artificial turf is a grasslike surface used for sports playing fields. Artificial diamonds are those that are manufactured, as opposed to those that have developed through natural processes in the earth. Artificial flowers are often used as decorations. Artificial intelligence generally refers to the ability of a computer to function in a way that mimics or is likened to the human mind. Sometimes, artificial is used in a more negative way to describe something as fake or imitation, as in Something about this tastes artificial. This sense of the word is sometimes used figuratively to describe something as being faked, phony, or contrived—the opposite of real or genuine, as in an artificial smile. Artificiality can be used in all of these contexts. Example: When designing this material, I tried to avoid any sense of artificiality—I wanted it to feel completely real.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overartificiality
  noun
• superartificiality
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• artificialities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of artificiality

First recorded in 1755–65; artificial + -ity

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

artificiality artificialities

The artificiality of all this, however, has pitted him against traditionalists who believe in the ocean's ability to self-heal.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

Yet Voisard believes people are increasingly tuning into animal livestreams to escape artificiality.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2026

He does not like the artificiality of the racing with the overtake mode and boost buttons.

From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026

Trills of harp-like melody underscore its essential artificiality, but its constant movement from one section to the next makes the piece seem organic and alive.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 18, 2025

It is not surprising that the history of science is a problematic activity, because science itself constantly claims to escape from its own temporal specificity, its own artificiality.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

There are different magnitudes of artificialities and offenses, some of which may not be real offenses at all, with varying implications in health, ethics and science.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 11, 2022

All of the celebrity tributes and voice-over videos were artificialities, junk, compared to the audience’s acclaim for Serena Williams, the pure roaring waterfalls of applause that thundered down in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 3, 2022

Basketball, on the other hand, has its own rituals and artificialities and weird rituals, and I will sit through pretty much anything basketball-related.

From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2012

They cannot escape from their overbearing surfaces and artificialities.

From BusinessWeek ● Feb. 27, 2012

It is hard to imagine Tom Smith surrounded by the artificialities of show business, standing in a glitzy showring, loosing horses to run in chaotic sprints, and not think that something precious was being squandered.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand