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