artificial

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Man-made

   Man-made; made by humans; of artifice.

   • The flowers were artificial, and he thought them rather tacky.
2. 2

   Insincere

   Insincere; fake, forced, or feigned.

   • Her manner was somewhat artificial.
3. 3

   Not natural or normal

   Not natural or normal: imposed arbitrarily or without regard to the specifics or normal circumstances of a person, a situation, etc.

   • This results in an artificial conflation of the individual crises experienced by Western European states and leads to imprecise judgements on the impact of Marshall. This confusing conflation is not simply the product of retrospection.
   • [If] the economic literature of the eighteenth century is examined in terms other than the narrow categories of free trade and protection, the artificial division between the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries would break down .
4. ›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Based on characteristics useful for identification, without regard for the formal…

      Based on characteristics useful for identification, without regard for the formal differences used in classification.

      • Artificial keys are devised purely to facilitate determination […]
   2. 5

      Conveying some meaning other than the actual contents of one's hand.

      • An artificial bid doesn't necessarily show length in the suit being bid, it has an altogether different meaning.
      • North makes an artificial call of 3♧, the cheapest suit at the 3 level, to show a very poor hand. What North holds in clubs doesn't matter at all.

The neighborhood

• synonymartificious
• synonymfactitious
• antonymantonym(s) of
• neighborartifact
• neighborartifice
• neighborartificer
• neighborfake