Art·ful a.
1. Performed with, or characterized by, art or skill. [Archaic] “Artful strains.” “Artful terms.”
2. Artificial; imitative.
3. Using or exhibiting much art, skill, or contrivance; dexterous; skillful.
He [was] too artful a writer to set down events in exact historical order. --Dryden.
4. Cunning; disposed to cunning indirectness of dealing; crafty; as, an artful boy. [The usual sense.]
Artful in speech, in action, and in mind. --Pope.
The artful revenge of various animals. --Darwin.
Syn: -- Cunning; skillful; adroit; dexterous; crafty; tricky; deceitful; designing. See Cunning.
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artful
adj 1: not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of
frankness; "an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine,
and hypocritical operator, who...exemplified...the
most disagreeable traits of his time"- David
Cannadine; "a disingenuous excuse" [syn: disingenuous]
[ant: ingenuous]
2: marked by skill in achieving a desired end especially with
cunning or craft; "the artful dodger"; "an artful choice
of metaphors" [ant: artless]