artifice

[ ahr-tuh-fis ]

noun

1. a clever trick or stratagem; a cunning, crafty device or expedient; wile.

   Synonyms: subterfuge

2. trickery; guile; craftiness.

   Synonyms: duplicity, art, deceit, deception

3. cunning; ingenuity; inventiveness:

   a drawing-room comedy crafted with artifice and elegance.

4. a skillful or artful contrivance or expedient.

artifice

/ ˈɑːtɪfɪs /

noun

1. a clever expedient; ingenious stratagem
2. crafty or subtle deception
3. skill; cleverness
4. a skilfully contrived device
5. obsolete.
   craftsmanship

Word 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

Word 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

Synonym Study

See trick. See cunning.

Example Sentences

She seemed determined to strip her fame of all artifice while still claiming its pleasures.

From Los Angeles Times

Such simplicity in design, along with a winking sense of artifice, is partly what helped turn Kent’s bogeyman into an unlikely gay icon.

From Los Angeles Times

But, the artifice of the season finale is aggravating, as are the outrageous sums of money involved.

From BBC

“We’re creating this veneer, sort of putting on this gauze of artifice so there’s a little bit of safety in there where you’re creating and molding the character you wish to portray,” Turner Ross said.

From Seattle Times

His somewhat studied performance affirms the admirable seriousness with which he approaches operatic art, and it will be exciting to hear him once he figures out how to conceal the artifice required to make it.

From New York Times

Related Words

• contrivance
• gimmick