ARTIFICE Definition & Meaning

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artifice

[ahr-tuh-fis]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a clever trick or stratagem; a cunning, crafty device or expedient; wile.
Synonyms:
trickery; guile; craftiness.
Synonyms: , , ,
cunning; ingenuity; inventiveness.
a drawing-room comedy crafted with artifice and elegance.
a skillful or artful contrivance or expedient.

artifice

/ ˈɑː��ɪ��ɪ�� /

noun

a clever expedient; ingenious stratagem
crafty or subtle deception
skill; cleverness
a skilfully contrived device
obsolete��craftsmanship

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of artifice¹

1525–35; < Anglo-French < Latin artificium craftsmanship, art, craftiness, equivalent to arti-, combining form of ars art ¹ + -fic-, combining form of facere to do ¹, make + -ium + -ium

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of artifice¹

C16: from Old French, from Latin artificium skill, from artifex one possessed of a specific skill, from ars skill + -fex, from facere to make

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Synonym Study

See trick. See cunning.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

This building up and breaking down of artifice forces reflection on how we use fiction to explore and bend reality while undermining the comforts of distance.

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"That's when it connects and when it means something. Otherwise, it's artifice."

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I think the artifice had reached a point of being inauthentic.

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Like everything else in the movie, it’s artifice that feigns at being fact.

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But how do you have, as Jomo would say, as little amount of artifice as possible?

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Related 51�Թ�s

contrivance��
gimmick��

artifactitious artificer

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