artifice: Meaning and Definition of
ar•ti•fice
Pronunciation: (är'tu-fis), [key] — n.
- a clever trick or stratagem; a cunning, crafty device or expedient; wile.
- trickery; guile; craftiness.
- cunning; ingenuity; inventiveness: a drawing-room comedy crafted with artifice and elegance.
- a skillful or artful contrivance or expedient.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.