Definition of: artifice

(är′tə·fis) noun
1. Subtle or deceptive craft; trickery.
2. Skill; ingenuity.
3. An ingenious expedient; stratagem; maneuver. [<F <L artificium handicraft, skill <ars art + facere make] Synonyms: art, blind, cheat, contrivance, craft, cunning, device, dodge, finesse, fraud, guile, imposture, invention, machination, maneuver, ruse, strategem, subterfuge, trick, wile. An artifice, contrivance, or device may be either good or bad. An artifice is a carefully and delicately prepared contrivance for doing indirectly what one could not well do directly. A device is something studied out for promoting an end, as in a mechanism. Finesse is especially subtle contrivance, delicate artifice, whether for good or evil. A cheat is a mean advantage in a bargain; a fraud, any form of covert robbery or injury. Imposture is a deceitful contrivance for securing charity, credit, or consideration. A strategem or maneuver may be good or bad. A wile is often but not necessarily evil. A trick is commonly low, injurious, and malicious, but the word is used playfully with less than its full meaning. A ruse or a blind may be quite innocent and harmless. Antonyms: artlessness, candor, fairness, frankness, guilelessness, honesty, ingenuousness, innocence, openness, simplicity, sincerity, truth.