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Artifice synonyms

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stratagem
A trick, scheme, or plan for deceiving an enemy in war
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  1. A trick, scheme, or plan for deceiving an enemy in war
  2. Any trick or scheme for achieving some purpose
  3. A scheme or maneuver designed to achieve an objective, as in surprising an enemy or deceiving someone.
trick
A difficult, dexterous, or clever act designed to amuse:
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  1. A difficult, dexterous, or clever act designed to amuse:
  2. (Informal, old) A child or girl, esp. one viewed as cute or pretty
  3. A special skill; a knack:
wile
A disarming or seductive manner, device, or procedure:
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  1. A disarming or seductive manner, device, or procedure:
  2. A stratagem or trick intended to deceive or ensnare.
  3. A beguiling or coquettish trick
ruse
A city of northeast Bulgaria on the Danube River south of Bucharest, Romania. Founded as a Roman fortress, it is today a major port and industrial center.
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  1. A city of northeast Bulgaria on the Danube River south of Bucharest, Romania. Founded as a Roman fortress, it is today a major port and industrial center.
  2. A crafty stratagem; a subterfuge.
  3. A stratagem, trick, or artifice
guile
A trick or stratagem.
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  1. A trick or stratagem.
  2. Slyness and cunning in dealing with others
  3. Treacherous cunning; skillful deceit.
cunning
Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
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  1. Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
  2. Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit.
  3. The disposition to employ one's skill in an artful manner; craftiness; guile; artifice; skill of being cunning, sly, conniving, or deceitful.
deceit
A dishonest action or trick; fraud or lie
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  1. A dishonest action or trick; fraud or lie
  2. A stratagem; a trick.
  3. (Law) The tort or fraudulent representation of a material fact made with knowledge of its falsity, or recklessly, or without reasonable grounds for believing its truth and with intent to induce reliance on it; the plaintiff justifiably relies on the deception, to his injury.
skill
(Obs.) Knowledge, understanding, or judgment
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  1. (Obs.) Knowledge, understanding, or judgment
  2. An art, trade, or technique, particularly one requiring use of the hands or body:
  3. A developed talent or ability:
ingenuity
An ingenious device, stratagem, etc.
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  1. An ingenious device, stratagem, etc.
  2. The quality of being ingenious; cleverness, originality, skill, etc.
  3. Inventive skill or imagination; cleverness.
inventiveness
The quality of being inventive; the faculty of inventing.
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  1. The quality of being inventive; the faculty of inventing.
deception
The fact or condition of being deceived
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  1. The fact or condition of being deceived
  2. The use of deceit.
  3. A ruse; a trick.
device
An invention, typically a mechanical object; a tactic or contrivance for the purpose of committing a deception or fraud. An invention, typically a mechanical object; a tactic or contrivance for the purpose of committing a deception or fraud.
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  1. An invention, typically a mechanical object; a tactic or contrivance for the purpose of committing a deception or fraud. An invention, typically a mechanical object; a tactic or contrivance for the purpose of committing a deception or fraud.
  2. A design, often with a motto, on a coat of arms; heraldic emblem
  3. A contrivance or invention serving a particular purpose, especially a machine used to perform one or more relatively simple tasks.
dodge
The act of dodging:
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  1. The act of dodging:
  2. A cunning or deceitful act intended to evade something or trick someone:
  3. A clever or resourceful device, plan, etc.
feint
A deceptive action calculated to divert attention from one's real purpose.
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  1. A deceptive action calculated to divert attention from one's real purpose.
  2. A military attack or maneuver that is meant to divert attention away from a planned point of attack.
  3. A body movement that is intended to divert another's attention, often by being deliberately left uncompleted:
gimmick
A device employed to cheat, deceive, or trick, especially a mechanism for the secret and dishonest control of gambling apparatus.
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  1. A device employed to cheat, deceive, or trick, especially a mechanism for the secret and dishonest control of gambling apparatus.
  2. A secret means of controlling a gambling device
  3. An attention-getting device or feature, typically superficial, designed to promote the success of a product, campaign, etc.
imposture
The act or instance of engaging in deception under an assumed name or identity.
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  1. The act or instance of engaging in deception under an assumed name or identity.
  2. The act or practice of an impostor; fraud; deception
jig
A device for guiding a tool or for holding machine work in place.
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  1. A device for guiding a tool or for holding machine work in place.
  2. A typically metal fishing lure with one or more hooks, usually deployed with a jiggling motion on or near the bottom.
  3. A device, often with metal surfaces, used as a guide for a tool or as a template
maneuver
A series of aircraft movements executed by the pilot according to a specific pattern, as a roll, a loop, etc.
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  1. A series of aircraft movements executed by the pilot according to a specific pattern, as a roll, a loop, etc.
  2. A movement or combination of movements involving skill and dexterity:
  3. Any skillful change of movement or direction in driving or controlling a vehicle or craft
ploy
An action calculated to frustrate an opponent or gain an advantage indirectly or deviously; a maneuver:
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  1. An action calculated to frustrate an opponent or gain an advantage indirectly or deviously; a maneuver:
  2. An action or maneuver intended to outwit or disconcert another person
ruse
A city of northeast Bulgaria on the Danube River south of Bucharest, Romania. Founded as a Roman fortress, it is today a major port and industrial center.
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  1. A city of northeast Bulgaria on the Danube River south of Bucharest, Romania. Founded as a Roman fortress, it is today a major port and industrial center.
  2. A crafty stratagem; a subterfuge.
  3. A stratagem, trick, or artifice
sleight
Cunning or craft used in deceiving
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  1. Cunning or craft used in deceiving
  2. An artful trick; sly artifice; a feat so dexterous that the manner of performance escapes observation.
  3. A clever or skillful trick or deception; an artifice or stratagem.
stratagem
The devising or execution of such schemes or maneuvers:
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  1. The devising or execution of such schemes or maneuvers:
  2. A scheme or maneuver designed to achieve an objective, as in surprising an enemy or deceiving someone.
  3. Any trick or scheme for achieving some purpose
subterfuge
Deception used to achieve an end:
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  1. Deception used to achieve an end:
  2. Any plan, action, or device used to hide one's true objective, evade a difficult or unpleasant situation, etc.; stratagem; artifice
trick
A special skill; a knack:
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  1. A special skill; a knack:
  2. A peculiar event with unexpected, often deceptive results:
  3. An act of jugglery or sleight of hand; also, an illusion of the kind created by legerdemain
wile
A stratagem or trick intended to deceive or ensnare.
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  1. A stratagem or trick intended to deceive or ensnare.
  2. A disarming or seductive manner, device, or procedure:
  3. A beguiling or coquettish trick
shenanigan
An underhanded act or deceitful remark:
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  1. An underhanded act or deceitful remark:
  2. A playful or mischievous act; a prank:
take-in
The act or an instance of swindling or cheating; a deception.
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  1. The act or an instance of swindling or cheating; a deception.
  2. (Informal) A taking in; specif., cheating, trickery, etc. or a deception, trick, etc.
art
Such activity in the visual or plastic arts:
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  1. Such activity in the visual or plastic arts:
  2. Products of this activity; imaginative works considered as a group:
  3. A skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation:
artfulness
The quality of being artful or of acting in an artful manner.
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  1. The quality of being artful or of acting in an artful manner.
craft
Any of various hobbies in which things are made by hand, including painting, origami, scrapbooking, etc.
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  1. Any of various hobbies in which things are made by hand, including painting, origami, scrapbooking, etc.
  2. Any occupation or avocation requiring special skills, especially manual ones, including carpentry, sewing, pottery, etc.
  3. A special skill, art, or dexterity
cunning
Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
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  1. Practical knowledge or experience; aptitude in performance; skill, proficiency; dexterity.
  2. The natural wit or instincts of an animal.
  3. Practical skill employed in a secret or crafty manner; craft; artifice; skillful deceit.
foxiness
The characteristic or quality of being foxy
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  1. The characteristic or quality of being foxy
guile
Treacherous cunning; skillful deceit.
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  1. Treacherous cunning; skillful deceit.
  2. A trick or stratagem.
  3. Slyness and cunning in dealing with others
slyness
(Countable) The result or product of being sly.
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  1. (Countable) The result or product of being sly.
  2. (Uncountable) The state or quality of being being sly.
Find another word for artifice. In this page you can discover 47 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for artifice, like: stratagem, trick, wile, ruse, guile, cunning, deceit, skill, ingenuity, inventiveness and trick.

Sentence Examples

  • Gibbon's stylistic artifice both averted the peril of prosecution and rendered the attack more telling.

  • He had not attempted to include in his calculations the orbital variations of the disturbing bodies; but Lagrange, by the happy artifice of transferring the origin of coordinates from the centre of the sun to the centre of gravity of the sun and planets, obtained a simplification of the formulae, by which the same analysis was rendered equally applicable to each of the planets severally.

  • Henry, who saw through the artifice, and was already looking round for a more popular successor to Wolsey, made the gracious answer that he would employ More otherwise.

  • The style of the whole book is nervous, vivid, free from artifice and rhetoric, obeying the writer's thought with absolute plasticity.

  • In this he succeeded, though not without a good deal of artifice, more creditable to his ingenuity than to his virtue.

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Words that mention artifice in the Dictionary

Words near artifice in the Thesaurus