Artificiality

ar;ti;fi;cial pronunciation: function: adjective date: 14th century 1 : humanly contrived often on a natural model : man-made lt;an artificial limbgt; lt;artificial diamondsgt;2 a : having existence in legal, economic, or political theory b : caused or produced by a human and especially social or political agency lt;an artificial price advantagegt; lt;artificial barriers of discrimination — r. c. weavergt;3 obsolete : artful, cunning4 a : lacking in natural or spontaneous quality lt;an artificial smilegt; lt;an artificial excitementgt; b : imitation, sham lt;artificial flavorgt;5 : based on differential morphological characters not necessarily indicative of natural relationships lt;an artificial key for plant identificationgt;— ar;ti;fi;ci;al;i;ty noun — ar;ti;fi;cial;ly adverb — ar;ti;fi;cial;ness noun