artifice
Use Artifice in a sentence
tə 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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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]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —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
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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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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