artful

adj

1. Characterized by, or performed with, cleverness or contrivance; clever, ingenious.

   “The nights ſtrange proſpects, made to feede the eyes; / With Artfull fyres, mounted in the skies: / Graced with horred claps of ſulphury thunders; / May make your mind, Iehouahs greater wonders.”

   “The doctrine that we can discover facts, detect the hidden processes of nature, by an artful manipulation of language, is so contrary to common sense, that a person must have made some advances in philosophy to believe it; […]”

2. Not naturally produced; artificial; imitative.

   “Some of this Artfull coulour now I want, / VVhich from the Muſes I deſire to borrow, / In Melancholly Priam to diſpaint / The perfect Image and true face of Sorrow, […]”

   “But oh! vvith Noon-day Heats oppreſs'd, / My aking Temples call for Reſt! / In yon cool Grotto's artful Night / Refreſhing Slumbers I'll invite, […]”

   “The kingly bard / Must smite the chords rudely and hard, / As with hammer or with mace; / That they may render back / Artful thunder, which conveys / Secrets of the solar track, / Sparks of the supersolar blaze.”

3. Exhibiting or using much art or skill; dexterous; skilful.

   “[W]e, in changed ſhapes, act Ovid's tales, / […] / Then vvill I haue thee in more moderne formes, / Attired like ſome ſprightly dame of France, / Braue Tuſcan lady, or proud Spaniſh beauty; / Sometimes, vnto the Perſian Sophies vvife; / Or the grand-Signiors miſtreſſe; and, for change, / To one of our moſt art-full courtizans, […]”

   “VVhat ſtrength of arm, or Art-full ſtratagem, / From Nile’s fell Rover could deliver them, / VVho runs, and rovves, vvarring by Land and VVater / 'Gainſt Men and Fiſhes, ſubiect to his ſlaughter?”

   “Spir[it]. VVhat voice is that, my yong Lord? ſpeak agen. […] Eld[er] bro[ther]. Thyrſis? vvhoſe artfull ſtrains have oft delayed / The huddling brook to heare his madrigale, / And ſvveeten'd every muskroſe of the dale, […]”

   “Her artful Hands the radiant Treſſes ty'd; / Part on her Head in ſhining Ringlets roll'd, / Part o'er her Shoulders vvav'd like melted Gold.”

   “His warming on this topic, which to one unacquainted with his pursuits and tastes appeared like courage; together with his artful suppression of his own secret hopes, and mention of himself as being in the same condition with Hugh; did more to soothe that ruffian than the most elaborate arguments could have done, or the most abject submission.”

4. (especially)Skilful at using dishonest or unfair means to achieve a purpose; crafty, cunning.

   “Here, again, were shadows on the window-blind of guests assembling; and there a group of handsome girls, all hooded and fur-booted, and all chattering at once, tripped lightly off to some near neighbour's house; where, wo upon the single man who saw them enter—artful witches: well they knew it—in a glow!”

   “"Now, this is a very artful dog," said Mr. Boffin, with a deep look. "This is a longer-headed schemer than I thought him.["]”

   “But now he was little more than a whimpering oyster led to be devoured on the sands of a Southern sea by the artful walrus, Circumstance, and the implacable carpenter, Fate.”

   “Where the Czech upstart [Lukáš] Rosol, ranked 100 in the world, all but blew [Rafael] Nadal's head off with his blunderbuss in a fifth set of unrivalled intensity on Thursday night, [Julien] Benneteau, a more artful citizen, used a rapier to hurt his vaunted foe before falling just short of a kill. In the end, it was he who staggered from the scene of the fight.”

5. (obsolete)Knowledgeable about the liberal arts; learned, wise.