Artificial

Quick meaning: Artificial is an adjective meaning Man-made; made by humans; of artifice.

Meaning

Man-made; made by humans; of artifice.

More Meanings

1. Insincere; fake, forced, or feigned.
2. Not natural or normal: imposed arbitrarily or without regard to the specifics or normal circumstances of a person, a situation, etc.
3. (taxonomy) Based on characteristics useful for identification, without regard for the formal differences used in classification.
4. (bridge) Conveying some meaning other than the actual contents of one's hand.

Example Sentences

Her manner was somewhat artificial.

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

In Alberta, for example, policy documents reinforce an artificial distinction between leadership-related activity and management.

[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 .

Synonyms for artificial

Depending on context, synonyms include artificious, factitious, conventional, contrived, faux, ersatz.

Antonyms for artificial

Common opposites include natural.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include factitious, man-made, contrived, faux, fake, ersatz.

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