artificer

[ ahr-tif-uh-ser ]

noun

1. a person who is skillful or clever in devising ways of making things; inventor.
2. a skillful or artistic worker; craftsperson.

artificer

/ ɑːˈtɪfɪsə /

noun

1. a skilled craftsman
2. a clever or inventive designer
3. a serviceman trained in mechanics

Word History and Origins

Origin of artificer¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French artificer, perhaps < Medieval Latin artificiārius; artifice, -er ²

Example Sentences

He quickly rose through the ranks to become an “artificer” — a special rank reserved for expert artillerymen — with Company H of the 1st Artillery Regiment at Fort Independence in Massachusetts.

From Washington Post

Give a synonym of "artifice."—Combine artifice + er.—Does "artificer" mean one who practices artifice?—Write a sentence containing this word.—Combine and define artifice + ial; artifice + al + ity.

From Literature

He was a Romantic artificer of worlds in motion, who saw before anyone else that the economy itself had the majesty of a mountain range, that a steam engine had the power of a riptide.

From New York Times

Not in straightforward, narrative fashion, with a certain sequentiality of idea, fact, occurrence, in sentence, phrase and paragraph that is comprehensible to a person of education and culture, but in parodies of classic prose and current slang, in perversions of sacred literature, in carefully metered prose with studied incoherence, in symbols so occult and mystic that only the initiated and profoundly versed can understand — in short, by means of every trick and illusion that a master artificer, or even magician, can play with the English language.

From New York Times

Recently, a wizard, a druid, a cleric, a ranger, an artificer and a couple of bards met on Zoom.

From New York Times

Related Words

• builder
• carpenter
• craftsman
• professional