artificial
//ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl//
Forms
- Comparative
- more artificial
- Superlative
- most artificial
Definitions
1.Man-made; made by humans; of artifice.
- The flowers were artificial, and he thought them rather tacky.
2.Insincere; fake, forced, or feigned.
- Her manner was somewhat artificial.
3.Not natural or normal: imposed arbitrarily or without regard to the specifics or normal circumstances of a person, a situation, etc.
- In Alberta, for example, policy documents reinforce an artificial distinction between leadership-related activity and management.
4.Based on characteristics useful for identification, without regard for the formal differences used in classification.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4306
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Antonyms
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.