artifice

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Some crafty artifice and a heap of negative space aren’t enough to fill the void left by a complete lack of narrative sense.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026

The traditional story, with its narrative arcs and tailored meanings, is often viewed in the critical world with distrust, a type of artifice that belongs to less self-aware eras.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

The player-friendly artifice that defines so much of Las Vegas was absent here.

From Slate • Nov. 18, 2025

Playing Ingrid-as-Aurora — the heroine of a film that, even its biggest fan admits, is “no ‘Citizen Kane’” — Lopez is shellacked under two layers of diva artifice.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2025

He increased the volume and they sang along; there was an exuberance to the song, its rhythmic joyfulness, so free of artifice, that filled the air with lightness.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie