Artificial | Definition of artificial by Merriam-Webster

Full Definition of ARTIFICIAL

1

: humanly contrived often on a natural model : man-made <an artificial limb> <artificial diamonds>

2

a : having existence in legal, economic, or political theory

b : caused or produced by a human and especially social or political agency <an artificial price advantage> <artificial barriers of discrimination — R. C. Weaver>

3

obsolete : artful, cunning

4

a : lacking in natural or spontaneous quality <an artificial smile> <an artificial excitement>

b : imitation, sham <artificial flavor>

5

: based on differential morphological characters not necessarily indicative of natural relationships <an artificial key for plant identification>

— ar·ti·fi·ci·al·i·ty \ˌär-tə-ˌfi-shē-ˈa-lə-tē\ noun

— ar·ti·fi·cial·ly \-ˈfi-sh^əl-ē\ adverb

— ar·ti·fi·cial·ness \-ˈfi-shəl-nəs\ noun

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First Known Use of ARTIFICIAL

14th century

Related to ARTIFICIAL

Synonyms: affected, assumed, bogus, contrived, factitious, fake, false, feigned, forced, mechanical, mock, phony (also phoney), plastic, pretended, pseudo, put-on, sham, simulated, spurious, strained, unnatural

Antonyms: artless, genuine, natural, spontaneous, unaffected, uncontrived, unfeigned, unforced

Definition of ARTIFICIAL for Kids

1

: made by humans <an artificial lake>

2

: not natural in quality <an artificial smile>

3

: made to seem like something natural <artificial flowers> <artificial flavoring>

— ar·ti·fi·cial·ly adverb

Medical Definition of ARTIFICIAL

1

: humanly contrived often on a natural model <an artificial limb>

2

: based on differential morphological characters not necessarily indicative of natural relationships <an artificial key for identification of a group of organisms>

—ar·ti·fi·cial·ly \-ˈfish-(ə-)lē\ adverb

Learn More About ARTIFICIAL

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for "artificial"

Spanish Central: Spanish translation of "artificial"

Nglish: Translation of "artificial" for Spanish speakers

Britannica English: Translation of "artificial" for Arabic speakers

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