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The Difference Between Art and Artifice
Do great actors display artifice or art? Sometimes a bit of both. Artifice stresses creative skill or intelligence, but it also implies a sense of falseness and trickery. Art generally rises above such falseness, suggesting instead an unanalyzable creative force. Actors may rely on some of each, but the personae they display in their roles are usually artificial creations. Therein lies a lexical connection between art and artifice. Artifice comes from artificium, Latin for "artistry, craftmanship, craft, craftiness, and cunning." (That root also gave us the English word artificial.) Artificium, in turn, developed from ars, the Latin root underlying the word art (and related terms such as artist and artisan).
Examples of artifice in a Sentence
Book Marks
june 5, Literary Hub, 5 June 2025
As The Better Sister peels away Chloe’s layers of artifice and reunites her and Nicky, experienced investigator Guidry and her new partner, Matt Bowen (Bobby Naderi), become more wary of the pair and their individual problems with Adam.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 29 May 2025
The bluntly declarative candor of their performances feels at once tweaked with the artifice of frank expressivity yet emotionally hyperreal.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 28 May 2025
Johnson doubles down on this artifice by relying heavily on backlot sets.
—Ryan Swen, Variety, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for artifice
Cite this Entry
“Artifice.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/artifice. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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