[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

artifice \ar"tifice\, n. l. artificium, fr. artifex artificer;
   ars, artis, art + facere to make: cf. f. artifice.
   1. a handicraft; a trade; art of making. obs.
      1913 webster

   2. workmanship; a skillfully contrived work.
      1913 webster

            the material universe . . . in the artifice of god,
            the artifice of the best mechanist.   --cudworth.
      1913 webster

   3. artful or skillful contrivance.
      1913 webster

            his congreve's plots were constructed without much
            artifice.                             --craik.
      1913 webster

   4. crafty device; an artful, ingenious, or elaborate trick.

   note: now the usual meaning.
         1913 webster

               those who were conscious of guilt employed
               numerous artifices for the purpose of averting
               inquiry.                           --macaulay.
         1913 webster

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

artifice
     n : a deceptive maneuver especially to avoid capture syn: ruse
see also:
ruse 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

211 moby thesaurus words for "artifice":
   gongorism, italian hand, machiavellianism, action, acuteness,
   ad hoc measure, adeptness, adroitness, affectation, affectedness,
   ambidexterity, answer, art, artful dodge, artfulness,
   artificiality, astuteness, bad faith, bag of tricks, blind, bluff,
   bosey, cabal, cageyness, callidity, canniness, catch, chicane,
   chicanery, chouse, cleverness, collusion, complicity, complot,
   confederacy, connivance, connivery, conspiracy, contrivance,
   contriving, countermove, counterplot, coup, course of action,
   covin, craft, craftiness, cunning, cunningness, curve, curve-ball,
   cute trick, deceit, deceitfulness, deception, deep-laid plot,
   demarche, design, device, dirty deal, dirty trick, dishonesty,
   dissimulation, dodge, dodgery, double-dealing, doubleness,
   doubleness of heart, duplicity, effort, engineering, euphemism,
   euphuism, expedient, faithlessness, fakement, falseheartedness,
   falseness, fast deal, feint, fetch, ficelle, finagling,
   fine italian hand, finesse, foul play, foxiness, frame-up, gambit,
   game, gamesmanship, gimmick, googly, grift, guile, hocus-pocus,
   hyperelegance, improbity, improvisation, ingeniousness, ingenuity,
   insidiousness, intrigue, inventiveness, joker, juggle, jugglery,
   jury-rig, jury-rigged expedient, keenness, knavery, last expedient,
   last resort, last shift, little game, low cunning, machination,
   makeshift, maneuver, maneuvering, manipulation, manneredness,
   mannerism, means, measure, move, one-upmanship, originality,
   overelaboration, overelegance, overniceness, overrefinement, pass,
   pettifoggery, pettifogging, pis aller, plot, plotting, ploy,
   preciosity, preciousness, pretentiousness, proficiency, purism,
   quickness, racket, rascality, readiness, red herring, resort,
   resource, resourcefulness, rigging, ruse, satanic cunning, scheme,
   schemery, scheming, scurvy trick, shake-up, sharp practice,
   sharpness, shift, shiftiness, shrewdness, skill, skulduggery,
   sleight, sleight of hand, sleight-of-hand trick, slipperiness,
   slyness, sneakiness, solution, sophistry, stealth, stealthiness,
   step, stopgap, stratagem, strategy, stroke, stroke of policy,
   subterfuge, subtilty, subtleness, subtlety, supercherie,
   suppleness, tactic, temporary expedient, treachery, trick,
   trickery, trickiness, trump, two-facedness, underhand dealing,
   underhandedness, underplot, unnaturalness, wariness,
   web of intrigue, wile, wiles, wiliness, wily device, wire-pulling,
   wit, working hypothesis, working proposition

Artifice >> A Words
Artifice, definition of term: Artifice
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