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artificial

ar·ti·fi·cial

UK/ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/ US/ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.l̩/ fairly common

adjective

1.

contrived by art rather than nature

  • “artificial flowers”
  • “artificial flavoring”
  • “an artificial diamond”
  • “artificial fibers”
  • “artificial sweeteners”
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Antonyms
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2.

artificially formal

  • “that artificial humility that her husband hated”
  • “contrived coyness”
  • “a stilted letter of acknowledgment”
  • “when people try to correct their speech they develop a stilted pronunciation”
Synonyms
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3.

not arising from natural growth or characterized by vital processes

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Origin

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.

Phrases

  • artificial abortion
  • artificial anus
  • artificial art
  • artificial bee colony
  • artificial consciousness
  • artificial dumbness
  • artificial element
  • artificial florist

Related words

Word family

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.