artful

adjectives

not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness

"an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who...exemplified...the most disagreeable traits of his time"- David Cannadine; "a disingenuous excuse"

artful, disingenuous

is derived from

artfulness

marked by skill in achieving a desired end especially with cunning or craft

"the artful dodger"; "an artful choice of metaphors"

artful

is derived from

artfulness

antonym

artless

is similar to

marked by skill in deception

"cunning men often pass for wise"; "deep political machinations"; "a foxy scheme"; "a slick evasive answer"; "sly as a fox"; "tricky Dick"; "a wily old attorney"

crafty, cunning, dodgy, foxy, guileful, knavish, slick, sly, tricksy, tricky, wily

is similar to

obviously contrived to charm

"an insufferably precious performance"; "a child with intolerably cute mannerisms"

cute, precious

is similar to

concealing crafty designs for advancing your own interest

"a selfish and designing nation obsessed with the dark schemes of European intrigue"- W.Churchill; "a scheming wife"; "a scheming gold digger"

designing, scheming

is similar to

exhibiting great cunning usually with secrecy

"deep political machinations"; "a deep plot"

deep

is similar to

skillful at eluding capture

"a cabal of conspirators, each more elusive than the archterrorist"- David Kline

elusive

is similar to

skillful in influencing or controlling others to your own advantage

"the early manipulative techniques of a three-year-old child"

manipulative

is similar to

cunning and sly

"the pawky rich old lady who incessantly scores off her parasitical descendants"- Punch

pawky