artificial

Adjective

artificial (comparative more artificial, superlative most artificial)

1. Man-made; made by humans; of artifice.
   • The flowers were artificial, and he thought them rather tacky.
   • An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention...2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly)
2. Insincere; fake, forced, or feigned.
   • Her manner was somewhat artificial.
3. Not natural or normal: imposed arbitrarily or without regard to the specifics or normal circumstances of a person, a situation, etc.
   • “How quickly have I fallen!” thought Tarzan; but in his heart he did not consider it a fall—rather, he pitied the poor creatures of Paris, penned up like prisoners in their silly clothes, and watched by policemen all their poor lives, that they might do nothing that was not entirely artificial and...1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 131
   • This results in an artificial conflation of the individual crises experienced by Western European states and leads to imprecise judgements on the impact of Marshall. This confusing conflation is not simply the product of retrospection.1990 February 19, Peter Burnham, The Political Economy of Postwar Reconstruction, Springer, →ISBN, page 73
4. Based on characteristics useful for identification, without regard for the formal differences used in classification.
   • Artificial keys are devised purely to facilitate determination […]1966 October, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume I, New York, N.Y.; London: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, page 3
5. Conveying some meaning other than the actual contents of one's hand.
   • An artificial bid doesn't necessarily show length in the suit being bid, it has an altogether different meaning.1999, Edwin B. Kantar, Eddie Kantar Teaches Advanced Bridge Defense, page 191
   • North makes an artificial call of 3♧, the cheapest suit at the 3 level, to show a very poor hand. What North holds in clubs doesn't matter at all.2008, David Galt, Teach Yourself Visually Bridge, page 219

   Synonyms:

   conventional

   Antonyms:

   natural