artifice
AHR-tih-fiss
/ˈɑːrtɪfɪs/
Clever or cunning devices, human craft, or calculated illusion used to produce a dramatic or aesthetic effect.
Can describe praised technical craft, or critically highlight deceptive, unnatural contrivance.
The story behind the word. From Latin 'artificium', combining 'ars' (art or craft) and 'facere' (to make or construct). Originally designating a honest skilled trade, it gained nuances of theatrical illusion and clever trickery over centuries.
Word relationships
- craftsmanship: 'Craftsmanship' carries positive technical skill connotations, while 'artifice' often implies calculated illusion.
- guile: 'Guile' is deceitful social cunning, whereas 'artifice' can refer directly to artistic or theatrical construction.
- authenticity: Genuine, unforced truthfulness without front or contrivance.
- spontaneity: Unplanned, natural, and immediate expression.
Commonly confused with
- artificiality: 'Artificiality' is the condition of being unnatural, whereas 'artifice' is the active skill or mechanism creating the effect.
Word family
- artificial (adjective): Made or produced by human craft rather than natural processes.
- artificer (noun): A skilled craftsman or inventor of mechanical devices.
Collocations
- artistic artifice
- deceptive artifice
- devoid of artifice
- stage artifice
Example sentences
- "Behind the movie's magical world lay months of painstaking visual artifice and theatrical set design." Film review
- "The poet stripped away all elaborate artifice, leaving behind stark, emotionally honest prose." Literary analysis
Memory hook
ART-I-FACE: Crafting an ARTistic FACE or fake surface through clever design. Clever craft or illusion
When not to use
Do not use as a synonym for raw clumsiness or random luck.
Fun facts
- In classical Greek and Roman theater, the 'deus ex machina' was considered an extreme form of theatrical artifice—a mechanical crane lowering a god onto stage to fix plot problems.
Related words
Also appears in
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