Meaning & use
artifice
Last updated
Clever or cunning trickery used to deceive; also, an ingenious device or clever technique.
See it in a sentence
The con artist relied on artifice rather than force to get what he wanted.
The magician's trick was pure artifice, built on years of careful practice.
A note on using this word
Can carry a negative sense (deceit) or a more neutral, even admiring sense (skillful craft or ingenuity) — context determines which.
Words with a similar meaning
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
sincerityhonesty
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