artificial
Man-made; made by humans; of artifice.
Adjective 4 meanings
Man-made; made by humans; of artifice.
“The flowers were artificial, and he thought them rather tacky.”
Insincere; fake, forced, or feigned.
“Her manner was somewhat artificial.”
Not natural or normal: imposed arbitrarily or without regard to the specifics or normal circumstances of a person, a situation, etc.
Based on characteristics useful for identification, without regard for the formal differences used in classification.
Etymology
From Middle English artificial (“man-made”) via Old French (modern French artificiel), from Latin artificiālis from artificium (“skill”), from artifex, from ars (“skill”), and -fex, from facere (“to make”). Displaced native Old English cræftlīċ.
Similar and opposite words
ARTIFICIAL at a glance
ARTIFICIAL has 10 letters and scores 15 points in Scrabble (A 1 + R 1 + T 1 + I 1 + F 4 + I 1 + C 3 + I 1 + A 1 + L 1) and 17 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #4,649 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with artificial
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