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Learn the meaning of artful, an adjective that describes someone or something clever and skillful, especially in getting what they want. See how to use artful in sentences and compare it with related words and phrases.
Learn the meaning, synonyms, and examples of the adjective artful, which can describe something performed with or showing art or skill, or using or characterized by art and skill. Find out how artful differs from artistic and other related words.
Find 60 words and phrases that mean artful, such as cunning, crafty, or skillful, and their opposites, such as artless, simple, or naïve. Learn the definition of artful and see examples of its usage.
If you describe someone as artful, you mean that they are clever and skilful at achieving what they want, especially by deceiving people.
Learn the meaning and usage of the adjective artful, which can describe clever, inventive, or skilled behavior. Find synonyms, antonyms, and examples of artful and related words in the Merriam-Webster thesaurus.
- Some common synonyms of artful are crafty, cunning, foxy, slick, sly, tricky, and wily. While all these words mean "attaining or seeking to attain...
- The meanings of crafty and artful largely overlap; however, crafty implies cleverness and subtlety of method. // a crafty lefthander
- Although the words cunning and artful have much in common, cunning suggests the inventive use of sometimes limited intelligence in overreaching or...
- The words foxy and artful are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, foxy implies a shrewd and wary craftiness usually involving devious...
- The words slick and artful can be used in similar contexts, but slick emphasizes smoothness and guile. // slick operators selling time-sharing
- In some situations, the words sly and artful are roughly equivalent. However, sly implies furtiveness, lack of candor, and skill in concealing one'...
- While in some cases nearly identical to artful, tricky is more likely to suggest shiftiness and unreliability than skill in deception and maneuveri...
- While the synonyms wily and artful are close in meaning, wily implies skill and deception in maneuvering. // the wily fugitive escaped the posse
Artful definition: slyly crafty or cunning; deceitful; tricky. See examples of ARTFUL used in a sentence.
To be artful is to do something skillfully, especially in a cunning way. A con man must be artful. To be an artist requires skill and talent: it's not easy to make art. Similarly, doing something in an artful way takes skill. A chess player is artful in escaping an opponent's attack.
