artificial

artificial — adjective

1. produced by humans rather than occurring on its own in nature, often designed to

1.形容詞B2
釋義

produced by humans rather than occurring on its own in nature, often designed to look like or do the job of a real, natural thing.

例句

Mei's grandmother lost her right knee in a car accident and now walks with an artificial joint.

artificial + body part noun

The strawberry yogurt contains artificial colors and flavors instead of real fruit.

artificial colors / flavors collocation

同義詞
  • synthetic

    stresses chemical or industrial production, often of materials

  • man-made

    everyday neutral term, very common in spoken English

  • manufactured

    emphasises factory production on a large scale

反義詞
  • natural

    the standard opposite — found in nature, not produced by people

  • real

    used when contrasting fakes (artificial leather vs real leather)

文法句型

artificial + noun

用法筆記

Subject is usually a concrete object, material, or environment that has a natural counterpart (skin, light, lake, intelligence). Distinguish from sense 2: this sense describes physical things, while sense 2 describes human behaviour or feelings.

常見錯誤

❌My uncle has an artificial cold every winter.
✅My uncle catches a bad cold every winter.
💡illnesses are not artificial; use 'artificial' for things people manufacture.
❌The garden has artificial flowers growing in spring.
✅The garden has wildflowers growing in spring.
💡if something grows by itself, it is natural, not artificial.

2. showing feelings, warmth, or politeness that the person does not really have ins

2.形容詞C2
釋義

showing feelings, warmth, or politeness that the person does not really have inside, so the behaviour seems forced or fake to the people watching.

例句

When the boss walked in, Hannah put on an artificial smile and went back to typing.

artificial smile / laugh — fake feeling

The talk-show host's cheerful laugh sounded completely artificial to viewers at home.

linking verb + artificial

同義詞
  • fake

    informal and blunt, common in everyday speech

  • forced

    stresses effort behind the behaviour rather than dishonesty

  • insincere

    formal; focuses on the lack of true feeling

  • phony

    informal American English, strongly negative

反義詞
  • genuine

    shows true feeling that matches what is inside

  • sincere

    stresses honesty about emotions, especially in speech

  • natural

    describes behaviour that is relaxed and unforced

文法句型

artificial + noun (smile, laugh, manner)

用法筆記

Almost always used before nouns like smile, laugh, manner, charm, politeness, enthusiasm — words for outward behaviour. Carries a clearly negative judgement. Distinguish from sense 1: a plastic flower is artificial without being dishonest, but an artificial laugh suggests the person is hiding their real feelings.

常見錯誤

❌Her sadness was artificial after losing her dog.
✅Her sadness seemed forced after losing her dog.
💡'artificial' here implies dishonesty; do not use it for real feelings, even strong ones.
❌He gave an artificial answer to the question.
✅He gave a vague answer to the question.
💡for unclear or evasive replies, use 'vague' or 'evasive', not 'artificial'.