Talk:artificial

RFV discussion: July–October 2022
Sense 3: unnatural. This needs to be distinct from sense 1 ("man-made; of artifice" e.g. artificial flowers) and from sense 2 ("false, misleading, fake", e.g. a person speaking with an artificial manner). I hardly see what can be left! Equinox ◑ 19:37, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Natural is definitely an antonym of artificial, so it is not unnatural to see unnatural being considered a synonym. It is furthermore not uncommon to see a distinction being called “artificial”, for example the distinction between alcohol and other drugs, or the distinction between a practical and a theoretical project. This is a judgemental label, unlike the neutral sense 1, but it is not nearly as strong as sense 2 and more similar to the judgemental use of the label unnatural. Indeed, a distinction may likewise be labelled unnatural, like the distinction between regular warfare and irregular war. The label can be replaced by artificial without substantive change of meaning. --Lambiam 22:44, 14 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Right. I think the wording of the senses needs to be improved to convey the distinction more clearer, but I agree there seems to be a distinction between these. (Conversely, if anyone wants to propose a wording that would allow the RFVed sense to be merged into sense 2, I'm open to the idea that that might be possible with the right wording.) - -sche (discuss) 22:49, 20 July 2022 (UTC)


 * I've revised the definitions and cited this, I'd say. Other comprehensive dictionaries generally also make this distinction (though in subtly different ways which suggest it might itself autologically be a little artificial). - -sche (discuss) 03:49, 23 August 2022 (UTC)

RFV-passed This, that and the other (talk) 08:54, 7 October 2022 (UTC)