Artfulness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. the quality of being clever, skillful, or cunning in achieving goals through subtle or strategic means
2. the characteristic of possessing craft, ingenuity, or strategic shrewdness in actions or designs
3. the trait of employing intelligence, sophistication, or calculated tactics to accomplish objectives with finesse

Etymology: Artfulness is a plain compound: the adjective "artful" with the suffix "-ness" attached, which turns a quality into a noun. The adjective "artful" is itself built from "art" and the suffix "-ful", meaning "full of", so the word literally describes a condition of being full of art, or skill in the sense of cunning. The suffix "-ness" traces back through Old English "-nes" to a Proto-Germanic ending that formed abstract nouns of quality from adjectives, and it has been productive in English ever since, which is why new formations like this one remain easy to coin.

Synonyms: skillfulness, cunning, craftiness

Antonyms: clumsiness, naivety