— artificially , adv. — artificialness , n.
/ahr'teuh fish"euhl/ , adj.
1. made by human skill; produced by humans (opposed to natural ): artificial flowers.
2. imitation; simulated; sham: artificial vanilla flavoring.
3. lacking naturalness or spontaneity; forced; contrived; feigned: an artificial smile.
4. full of affectation; affected; stilted: artificial manners; artificial speech.
5. made without regard to the particular needs of a situation, person, etc.; imposed arbitrarily; unnatural: artificial rules for dormitory residents.
6. Biol. based on arbitrary, superficial characteristics rather than natural, organic relationships: an artificial system of classification.
7. Jewelry. manufactured to resemble a natural gem, in chemical composition or appearance. Cf. assembled, imitation (def. 11), synthetic (def. 6).
[ 1350-1400; ME artificialis contrived by art; see ARTIFICE, -AL 1 ]
Syn. 1. synthetic. 2, 3 . counterfeit, factitious. 4. pretentious.
Ant. 2. genuine, real.