Artifice
noun
Trick or deception used to achieve a goal.
His promises were nothing more than political artifice.
Often appears as...
- pure artifice
- impenetrable artifice
noun
The clever or skillful use of devices in art or literature.
She uses artifice in her novels to surprise her readers.
Often appears as...
- literary artifice
- creative artifice
Usage tips
Approving
Literary
noun
Trick or deception used to achieve a goal.
His promises were nothing more than political artifice.
Often appears as...
- pure artifice
- impenetrable artifice
noun
The clever or skillful use of devices in art or literature.
She uses artifice in her novels to surprise her readers.
Often appears as...
- literary artifice
- creative artifice
Usage tips
Approving
Literary
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Hidden Intent
Artifice often implies a hidden motive or intent behind the trick.
The magician’s artifice was meant to entertain, not deceive.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative Connotation
Artifice carries a negative connotation, suggesting dishonesty or deceit.
The con artist used artifice to swindle the tourists.
Pro Tip 3/3Often Complex
The trickery implied by artifice is usually clever or involves complex planning.
The escape plan involved a lot of artifice and preparation.
Pro Tip 1/3Hidden Intent
Artifice often implies a hidden motive or intent behind the trick.
The magician’s artifice was meant to entertain, not deceive.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative Connotation
Artifice carries a negative connotation, suggesting dishonesty or deceit.
The con artist used artifice to swindle the tourists.
Pro Tip 3/3Often Complex
The trickery implied by artifice is usually clever or involves complex planning.
The escape plan involved a lot of artifice and preparation.
Pro Tip 1/3Hidden Intent
Artifice often implies a hidden motive or intent behind the trick.
The magician’s artifice was meant to entertain, not deceive.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative Connotation
Artifice carries a negative connotation, suggesting dishonesty or deceit.
The con artist used artifice to swindle the tourists.
Pro Tip 3/3Often Complex
The trickery implied by artifice is usually clever or involves complex planning.
The escape plan involved a lot of artifice and preparation.
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Video examples
Cradle to cradle design...
that life itself has to have growth as a precondition -- it has to have free energy, sunlight and it needs to be an open system of chemicals. So we're asking for human artifice to become a living thing, and we want growth, we want free energy from sunlight and we want an open metabolism for chemicals.
Video examples
Txtng is killing...
laterally thing writing is so first their speech and then writing comes along as a kind of artifice now don't get me wrong writing has certain advantages when you write because it's a conscious process because you can look backwards you can
Video examples
Bonus Episode: Bicycles,...
prize but as it is easy to foresee that from different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth as this is the point in your political
Video examples
Predictions of tech's...
lagoon uh which is actually artificial but it it's designed in a way to to conceal its artifice
Video examples
Cradle to cradle design...
that life itself has to have growth as a precondition -- it has to have free energy, sunlight and it needs to be an open system of chemicals. So we're asking for human artifice to become a living thing, and we want growth, we want free energy from sunlight and we want an open metabolism for chemicals.
Video examples
Txtng is killing...
laterally thing writing is so first their speech and then writing comes along as a kind of artifice now don't get me wrong writing has certain advantages when you write because it's a conscious process because you can look backwards you can
Video examples
Bonus Episode: Bicycles,...
prize but as it is easy to foresee that from different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth as this is the point in your political
Video examples
Predictions of tech's...
lagoon uh which is actually artificial but it it's designed in a way to to conceal its artifice
Example 1 of 4
Quote examples
Martin Amis
British Author
Language leads a double life - and so does the novelist. You chat with family and friends, you attend to your correspondence, you consult menus and shopping lists, you observe road signs, and so on. Then you enter your study, where language exists in quite another form - as the stuff of patterned artifice.
Quote examples
Mario Vargas Llosa
Peruvian Writer
Reality is the richest thing there is, the most important thing there is. Our imagination allows us to live an artificial life that is wonderful, extremely rich, but I don't believe any artist would dare to say that artifice is better than real life.
Quote examples
Mira Nair
Indian Director
I always like to reveal the fact that the emperor has no clothes. And children are best at that. They teach us how to see the world in that sense. They are without artifice; they see it for what it is. I am drawn to that ruthless honesty.
Quote examples
Kevin Young
The hoax is the very absence of truth, which usually means art is absent, too - hoaxes regularly substitute claims of reality for imagination, facts for form, acting as if artifice is the antithesis of art.
Quote examples
Robert Duvall
American Actor
Stripping away artifice - it's the constant standard I aim for in acting, to approximate life. People talk about being bigger than life - but there's nothing bigger than life.
Quote examples
Wallace Stevens
American Poet
To regard the imagination as metaphysics is to think of it as part of life, and to think of it as part of life is to realize the extent of artifice. We live in the mind.
Quote examples
Annabelle Selldorf
German Architect
I think when you look at architectural photography it doesn't help to have piles of old clothes lying on the floor. Architectural photography sets up an artifice.
Quote examples
Lady Gaga
American Singer
I don't see myself in terms of artifice. I see myself as a real person who chooses to live my life in an open way - artistically.
Quote examples
Laura van den Berg
American Writer
Fiction accesses a certain kind of truth through artifice. I love to create worlds that operate on their own terms.
Quote examples
Adrienne Rich
American Poet
Art, whose honesty must work through artifice, cannot avoid cheating truth.
Quote examples
Martin Amis
British Author
Language leads a double life - and so does the novelist. You chat with family and friends, you attend to your correspondence, you consult menus and shopping lists, you observe road signs, and so on. Then you enter your study, where language exists in quite another form - as the stuff of patterned artifice.
Quote examples
Mario Vargas Llosa
Peruvian Writer
Reality is the richest thing there is, the most important thing there is. Our imagination allows us to live an artificial life that is wonderful, extremely rich, but I don't believe any artist would dare to say that artifice is better than real life.
Quote examples
Mira Nair
Indian Director
I always like to reveal the fact that the emperor has no clothes. And children are best at that. They teach us how to see the world in that sense. They are without artifice; they see it for what it is. I am drawn to that ruthless honesty.
Quote examples
Kevin Young
The hoax is the very absence of truth, which usually means art is absent, too - hoaxes regularly substitute claims of reality for imagination, facts for form, acting as if artifice is the antithesis of art.
Quote examples
Robert Duvall
American Actor
Stripping away artifice - it's the constant standard I aim for in acting, to approximate life. People talk about being bigger than life - but there's nothing bigger than life.
Quote examples
Wallace Stevens
American Poet
To regard the imagination as metaphysics is to think of it as part of life, and to think of it as part of life is to realize the extent of artifice. We live in the mind.
Quote examples
Annabelle Selldorf
German Architect
I think when you look at architectural photography it doesn't help to have piles of old clothes lying on the floor. Architectural photography sets up an artifice.
Quote examples
Lady Gaga
American Singer
I don't see myself in terms of artifice. I see myself as a real person who chooses to live my life in an open way - artistically.
Quote examples
Laura van den Berg
American Writer
Fiction accesses a certain kind of truth through artifice. I love to create worlds that operate on their own terms.
Quote examples
Adrienne Rich
American Poet
Art, whose honesty must work through artifice, cannot avoid cheating truth.
Example 1 of 10
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