ar·ti·fice

[ahr-tuh-fis]
noun
1.
a clever trick or stratagem; a cunning, crafty device or expedient; wile.
2.
trickery; guile; craftiness.
3.
cunning; ingenuity; inventiveness: a drawing-room comedy crafted with artifice and elegance.
4.
a skillful or artful contrivance or expedient.

Origin:
1525–35; < Anglo-French < Latin artificium craftsmanship, art, craftiness, equivalent to arti-, combining form of ars art1 + -fic-, combining form of facere to do1, make + -ium + -ium


1. subterfuge. See trick. 2. deception, deceit, art, duplicity. See cunning.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To artifice
00:10
Artifice is an SAT word you need to know.
So is obfuscate. Does it mean:
tending to make worse
to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy.
Collins
World English Dictionary
artifice (ˈɑːtɪfɪs) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a clever expedient; ingenious stratagem
2.  crafty or subtle deception
3.  skill; cleverness
4.  a skilfully contrived device
5.  obsolete craftsmanship
 
[C16: from Old French, from Latin artificium skill, from artifex one possessed of a specific skill, from ars skill + -fex, from facere to make]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

artifice
1530s, "workmanship," from M.Fr. artifice "skill, cunning" (14c.), from L. artificium "making by art, craft," from artifex (gen. artificis) "craftsman, artist," from ars "art" (see art (n.)) + facere "do" (see factitious). Meaning "device, trick" (the usual modern sense) is from 1650s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The past tense helps sweep us away in the story; the present tense subtly
  reminds us that it is artifice after all.
It is often an artifice of the devil to make a novice undertake too much at
  first, and run indiscreetly beyond his strength.
That's what makes it art-it's artifice in search of reality.
Our organic behavior may not be good, and there's a place for artifice.
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