artificial
/ɑːtɪˈfɪʃ(ə)l
/adjective
1Made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, especially as a copy of something natural: her skin glowed in the artificial light an artificial limb artificial flowers...
- This system uses ambient light rather than an artificial light source.
- He also makes a point of using liqueur ingredients with natural rather than artificial flavorings.
- Natural and artificial light is reflected from the polished and honed surfaces of the stone clad interior.
1.1(Of a situation or concept) not existing naturally; contrived or false: the artificial division of people into age groups...
- He went on to call the situation ‘an artificial crisis,’ caused by an increased demand resulting from all the publicity.
- Admittedly, it was an artificial situation because the operator knew what the problem was and what sequence of keys was needed to cause the fault.
- That would be to limit the operation of the provision to artificial situations, for which there is no justification either in principle or in the language used.
Synonyms
synthetic, fake, false, imitation, mock, simulated, faux, ersatz, substitute;
pseudo, sham, bogus, spurious, counterfeit, forged, pretended, so-called;
plastic;
man-made, manufactured, unnatural, fabricated;
replica, reproduction, facsimile
informal phoney, pretend
2(Of a person or their behaviour) insincere or affected: she gave an artificial smile...
- Straight through her flawless appearance and extraordinary manners I saw an artificial person.
- It's filled with artificial people, with solemn, fake smiles, empty eyes, and briefcases.
- Their smiles aren't real, they are artificial, paid for by him.
Synonyms
feigned, insincere, false, affected, mannered, unnatural, stilted, contrived, pretended, put-on, exaggerated, actorly, overdone, overripe, forced, laboured, strained, hollow, spurious
informal pretend, phoney, hammy, ham, campy
3 Bridge (Of a bid) conventional as opposed to natural: the Italian team began with an artificial club...
- Bids which carry an agreed meaning other than this are called artificial or conventional.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French artificiel or Latin artificialis, from artificium 'handicraft' (see artifice).