artificial

artificial — adjective

1. produced by humans rather than occurring on its own in nature, often designed to

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

produced by humans rather than occurring on its own in nature, often designed to look like or do the job of a real, natural thing.

Example

Mei's grandmother lost her right knee in a car accident and now walks with an artificial joint.

artificial + body part noun

The strawberry yogurt contains artificial colors and flavors instead of real fruit.

artificial colors / flavors collocation

Common collocations
  • artificial intelligence
  • artificial light
  • artificial flowers
  • artificial sweetener
  • artificial limb
  • artificial lake
Synonyms
  • synthetic

    stresses chemical or industrial production, often of materials

  • man-made

    everyday neutral term, very common in spoken English

  • manufactured

    emphasises factory production on a large scale

Antonyms
  • natural

    the standard opposite — found in nature, not produced by people

  • real

    used when contrasting fakes (artificial leather vs real leather)

Grammar Patterns

artificial + noun

Usage Note

Subject is usually a concrete object, material, or environment that has a natural counterpart (skin, light, lake, intelligence). Distinguish from sense 2: this sense describes physical things, while sense 2 describes human behaviour or feelings.

Common Mistakes

My uncle has an artificial cold every winter.
My uncle catches a bad cold every winter.
illnesses are not artificial; use 'artificial' for things people manufacture.
The garden has artificial flowers growing in spring.
The garden has wildflowers growing in spring.
if something grows by itself, it is natural, not artificial.

2. showing feelings, warmth, or politeness that the person does not really have ins

2.adjectiveC2
Definition

showing feelings, warmth, or politeness that the person does not really have inside, so the behaviour seems forced or fake to the people watching.

Example

When the boss walked in, Hannah put on an artificial smile and went back to typing.

artificial smile / laugh — fake feeling

The talk-show host's cheerful laugh sounded completely artificial to viewers at home.

linking verb + artificial

Common collocations
  • artificial smile
  • artificial laugh
  • artificial politeness
  • artificial charm
  • artificial enthusiasm
Synonyms
  • fake

    informal and blunt, common in everyday speech

  • forced

    stresses effort behind the behaviour rather than dishonesty

  • insincere

    formal; focuses on the lack of true feeling

  • phony

    informal American English, strongly negative

Antonyms
  • genuine

    shows true feeling that matches what is inside

  • sincere

    stresses honesty about emotions, especially in speech

  • natural

    describes behaviour that is relaxed and unforced

Grammar Patterns

artificial + noun (smile, laugh, manner)

Usage Note

Almost always used before nouns like smile, laugh, manner, charm, politeness, enthusiasm — words for outward behaviour. Carries a clearly negative judgement. Distinguish from sense 1: a plastic flower is artificial without being dishonest, but an artificial laugh suggests the person is hiding their real feelings.

Common Mistakes

Her sadness was artificial after losing her dog.
Her sadness seemed forced after losing her dog.
'artificial' here implies dishonesty; do not use it for real feelings, even strong ones.
He gave an artificial answer to the question.
He gave a vague answer to the question.
for unclear or evasive replies, use 'vague' or 'evasive', not 'artificial'.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All five words describe things produced by people rather than nature, but they differ in focus and feel. 'Artificial' is the broadest and most neutral, used for products designed to copy or replace something natural — artificial light, artificial intelligence, artificial sweeteners. 'Synthetic' suggests a chemical or industrial process and is common with materials such as synthetic rubber or synthetic fibres. 'Man-made' is the everyday spoken choice and works well for landscapes and structures, like a man-made lake. 'Fake' is informal and often disapproving — fake fur, fake news — pointing at the wish to deceive. 'Imitation' sits between artificial and fake; it admits the copy openly, as in imitation leather shoes that nobody pretends are real cowhide. So you might offer guests imitation crab in a salad, decorate with artificial flowers, build a synthetic running track, and dismiss a poorly made handbag as fake.

artificial ↗synthetic ↗man-madefake ↗imitation ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • artificial intelligence
  • artificial light
  • artificial flavour
  • artificial sweetener
  • artificial limb
  • artificial flower
  • artificial lake
  • artificial smile

Adverbs

  • entirely artificial
  • wholly artificial
  • largely artificial

Phrases

  • artificial as opposed to natural

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word reached English in the late 1300s from Old French 'artificiel', which came from Latin 'artificialis', meaning 'belonging to art or skill'. The Latin root joins 'ars' (skill, craft) with 'facere' (to make), so the early sense was simply 'made by human craft'. The contrast with 'natural' grew stronger over time, and by the 1700s 'artificial' was also being used to describe behaviour that seemed crafted or put on rather than genuine — the source of today's second meaning.