artful

/'ɑ:tful/

Thân thiện

The artful fox quietly approached the unsuspecting rabbit.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Skilled at achieving goals through cunning or cleverness: Describes someone who is cleverly deceitful or crafty in their methods to get what they want.
   • Not honest or straightforward; deceptive: Describes behavior or speech that is insincere, intended to mislead or create a false impression.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The artful negotiator managed to secure the deal on very favorable terms. (Here, "artful" implies clever, strategic skill, possibly with an element of cunning.)
  • Her artful excuse convinced the teacher she was ill. (In this context, "artful" suggests a cleverly constructed but deceptive reason.)
  • He gave an artful smile, hiding his true intentions. (This use describes a deceptive, calculated expression.)

Advanced Usage

• "The artful dodger": A classic literary reference (from Charles Dickens's ) to a character who is a clever and skillful pickpocket. This phrase is often used to describe someone who is adept at avoiding capture or responsibility through cunning.
  • He was an artful dodger when it came to paying his share of the bill.

Variants and Related Words

• Artfully (adverb): In a cleverly skillful or cunning manner.
  • She artfully avoided answering the direct question.
• Artfulness (noun): The quality of being artful; cleverness or cunning.
  • The artfulness of his scheme was both impressive and alarming.

Synonyms

• Cunning: Having or showing skill in achieving one's ends by deceit or evasion.
• Crafty: Clever at achieving one's aims by indirect or deceitful methods.
• Disingenuous: Not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does.
• Sly: Having or showing a cunning and deceitful nature.
• Guileful: Crafty; cunning; using or characterized by clever, indirect, or deceptive methods.

Antonyms

• Artless: Without guile or deception; natural and simple.
• Ingenuous: (Of a person or action) innocent and unsuspecting; showing childlike simplicity and candidness.
• Straightforward: Uncomplicated and easy to understand; honest and frank.
• Genuine: Truly what something is said to be; authentic; sincere.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• An artful dodge: A clever maneuver to avoid something.
  • Pleading a prior engagement was just an artful dodge to get out of the meeting.
• With artful simplicity: Describing something that appears simple but is actually very cleverly or skillfully done.
  • The poem conveys deep emotions with artful simplicity.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. marked by skill in achieving a desired end especially with cunning or craft
   • the artful dodger
   • an artful choice of metaphors
2. 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

Từ đồng nghĩa

• disingenuous