How do you pronounce artificial?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˌɑɹ.təˈfɪʃ.əl/.

Where does artificial come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

artificial

/ˌɑɹ.təˈfɪʃ.əl/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.24 in modern English

Syllables: ar-ti-fi-cial
IPA: /ˌɑɹ.təˈfɪʃ.əl/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Man-made; made by humans; of artifice.

adj

Insincere; fake, forced, or feigned.

adj

Not natural or normal: imposed arbitrarily or without regard to the specifics or normal circumstances of a person, a situation, etc.

adj

Based on characteristics useful for identification, without regard for the formal differences used in classification.

adj

Conveying some meaning other than the actual contents of one's hand.

Example Sentences

"The flowers were artificial, and he thought them rather tacky."
"An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time."
"Her manner was somewhat artificial."
"“How quickly have I fallen!” thought Tarzan; but in his heart he did not consider it a fall—rather, he pitied the poor creatures of Paris, penned up like prisoners in their silly clothes, and watched by policemen all their poor lives, that they might do nothing that was not entirely artificial and tiresome."
"This results in an artificial conflation of the individual crises experienced by Western European states and leads to imprecise judgements on the impact of Marshall. This confusing conflation is not simply the product of retrospection."
"[If] the economic literature of the eighteenth century is examined in terms other than the narrow categories of free trade and protection, the artificial division between the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries would break down ."

Etymology

From Middle English artificial (“man-made”) via Old French (modern French artificiel), from Latin artificiālis from artificium (“skill”), from artifex, from ars (“skill”), and -fex, from facere (“to make”). Displaced native Old English cræftlīċ.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *h₂er-, artificial, -, artificiālis, *dʰeh₁-

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌɑɹ.təˈfɪʃ.əl/
British English: /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/

Inflected Forms

more artificial (comparative) most artificial (superlative)

Derived Forms

artificialism artificialist artificiality artificialization artificialize artificially artificialness artilect bioartificial inartificial nonartificial overartificial

Phrases

artificial abortion artificial anus artificial art artificial bee colony artificial consciousness artificial dumbness artificial element artificial florist

Frequently Paired Words

artifact artifice artificer fake

Synonyms

conventional artificious factitious contrived hokey stilted unreal

Antonyms

natural antonym(s) of

Rhymes With

official initial judicial beneficial unofficial superficial sacrificial interstitial prejudicial fishel mischel rishel