a clever trick or stratagem; a cunning, crafty device or expedient; wile.

trickery; guile; craftiness.

cunning; ingenuity; inventiveness

a drawing-room comedy crafted with artifice and elegance.

a skillful or artful contrivance or expedient.

noun

candor , frankness , honesty , honor , ingenuousness , innocence , openness , reality , sincerity , truthfulness , artlessness , inability , incapacity , simplicity , uncleverness

noun

con , contrivance , device , dodge , expedient , gambit , gimmick * , machination , maneuver , play , ploy , racket * , ruse , savvy , scam * , stratagem , subterfuge , tactic , wile , artfulness , chicanery , craftiness , dishonesty , duplicity , guile , scheming , slyness , trickery , wiliness , ability , adroitness , deftness , facility , finesse , ingenuity , invention , inventiveness , know-how * , skill , deception , feint , gimmick , imposture , jig , sleight , craft , cunning , foxiness , cageyness , deceit , diplomacy , hoax , intrigue , subtlety , trick