" artifice "

1: a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end;

  * e.g., " ... used the artifice of saying his grandmother had died so that he could get the last seat on the plane "

•  Synonyms : 

•  device,

•  dodge,

•  fetch,

•  flimflam,

•  gambit,

•  gimmick,

•  jig,

•  juggle,

•  knack,

•  play,

•  ploy,

•  ruse,

•  scheme,

•  shenanigan,

•  sleight,

•  stratagem,

•  trick,

•  wile

•  Antonyms : 

•  artlessness,

•  ineptitude,

•  ineptness,

•  maladroitness

2: skill in achieving one's ends through indirect, subtle, or underhanded means;

  * e.g., " ... using their artifice, the Greeks crafted a hollow wooden horse to hide inside and thereby gained entry into the city of Troy "

•  Synonyms : 

•  artfulness,

•  caginess,

•  canniness,

•  craft,

•  craftiness,

•  cunning,

•  cunningness,

•  deviousness,

•  foxiness,

•  guile,

•  guilefulness,

•  slickness,

•  slyness,

•  sneakiness,

•  subtleness,

•  subtlety,

•  wiliness

•  Antonyms : 

•  artlessness,

•  forthrightness,

•  good faith,

•  guilelessness,

•  ingenuousness,

•  sincerity

3: subtle or imaginative ability in inventing, devising, or executing something;

  * e.g., " ... a painting that could only have been created with the artifice of a master "

•  Synonyms : 

•  adeptness,

•  adroitness,

•  art,

•  artfulness,

•  artistry,

•  cleverness,

•  craft,

•  cunning,

•  deftness,

•  masterfulness,

•  skill,

•  skillfulness

•  Antonyms : 

• (N/A)