artifice

Definitions

Clever or cunning devices or expedients, especially as used to trick or deceive others.

Skill or ingenuity, especially in the use of craft or art.

Examples

The magician used a clever artifice to make the coin disappear from his palm.

Her polite smile was merely an artifice to hide her true feelings about the situation.

Synonyms

deception trickery stratagem ruse subterfuge guile maneuver

Antonyms

honesty sincerity candor frankness truthfulness artlessness naivety