artful
To be artful is to do something skillfully, especially in a cunning way. A con man must be artful.
To be an artist requires skill and talent: it's not easy to make art. Similarly, doing something in an artful way takes skill. A chess player is artful in escaping an opponent's attack. A politician is artful in appealing to different groups of people. This word also indicates that the skill shown is a little cunning or sneaky. In movies, villains are often artful, as they tell lies or hatch schemes. Often, artful is the opposite of straightforward.
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not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness
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synonyms:
disingenuous
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distorted, misrepresented, perverted, twisted
having an intended meaning altered or misrepresented
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insincere
lacking sincerity
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Antonyms:
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artless, ingenuous
characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious
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candid, heart-to-heart, open
openly straightforward and direct without reserve or secretiveness
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undistorted
without alteration or misrepresentation
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sincere
open and genuine; not deceitful
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naif, naive
marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly experience
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distorted, misrepresented, perverted, twisted
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marked by skill in achieving a desired end especially with cunning or craft“the artful dodger”“an artful choice of metaphors”
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Synonyms:
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adroit
quick or skillful or adept in action or thought
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crafty, cunning, dodgy, foxy, guileful, knavish, slick, sly, tricksy, tricky, wily
marked by skill in deception
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cute, precious
obviously contrived to charm
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designing, scheming
concealing crafty designs for advancing your own interest
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deep
exhibiting great cunning usually with secrecy
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elusive
skillful at eluding capture
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manipulative
skillful in influencing or controlling others to your own advantage
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pawky
cunning and sly
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Antonyms:
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artless
simple and natural; without cunning or deceit
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careless
effortless and unstudied
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natural
in accordance with nature; relating to or concerning nature
- show more antonyms...
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adroit
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Vocabulary lists containing artful
With a name that translates into Stout Heart, fifteen-year-old Mafatu, the son of the Great Chief of the Polynesian island of Hikueru, is determined to conquer his fear of the sea.
After escaping a Soviet military camp, U.S. Air Force pilot Joseph "Mack" Makatozi navigates the Siberian wilderness as a native tracker is on his trail.
Based on the classic novel The Great Gatsby, this work follows the story of Nicolás Caraveo, a seventeen-year-old transgender boy who moves to New York and meets his mysterious neighbor Jay Gatsby, another transgender boy with an extravagant and decadent lifestyle.
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