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Dictionary

ar•ti•fi•cial

Pronunciation: (är"tu-fish'ul), [key]
—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).

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

artificer

artificial aids

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