Artifice stresses creative skill or intelligence, but it also implies a sense of falseness and trickery. Art generally rises above such falseness, suggesting instead an unanalyzable creative force.

ARTIFICE definition: a clever trick or stratagem; a cunning, crafty device or expedient; wile. See examples of artifice used in a sentence.

ARTIFICE definition: 1. (the use of) a clever trick or something intended to deceive: 2. (the use of) a clever trick or…. Learn more.

Something contrived or made up to achieve an end, especially by deceiving; a stratagem or ruse: "From the beginning, 'compassionate conservatism' was an artifice designed to mask Bush's conservatism …

There are eight meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun artifice, two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

Definition of artifice noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

If a politician pretends to be angry as a way of rousing the anger of the voters and getting more votes, he's guilty of artifice — a subtle and crafty trick. Before taking on its current meaning, artifice meant a …

Something contrived or made up to achieve an end, especially by deceiving; a stratagem or ruse: "From the beginning, 'compassionate conservatism' was an artifice designed to mask Bush's conservatism …

Deception or trickery. The purchaser believed that the product was new only by artifice of the seller.

ar•ti•fice (är′ tə fis), n. a clever trick or stratagem; a cunning, crafty device or expedient; wile. trickery; guile; craftiness. cunning; ingenuity; inventiveness: a drawing-room comedy crafted with artifice and …