Factitious

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Factitious \Fac*ti"tious\, a. [L. factitius, fr. facere to make.
     See {Fact}, and cf. {Fetich}.]
     Made by art, in distinction from what is produced by nature;
     artificial; sham; contrived; formed by, or adapted to, an
     artificial or conventional, in distinction from a natural,
     standard or rule; not natural; as, factitious cinnabar or


     jewels; a factitious taste. -- {Fac-ti"tious*ly}, adv. --
     {Fac*ti"tious*ness}, n.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           He acquires a factitious propensity, he forms an
           incorrigible habit, of desultory reading. --De Quincey.
  
     Syn: Unnatural.
  
     Usage: {Factitious}, {Unnatural}. Anything is unnatural when
            it departs in any way from its simple or normal state;
            it is factitious when it is wrought out or wrought up
            by labor and effort, as, a factitious excitement. An
            unnatural demand for any article of merchandise is one
            which exceeds the ordinary rate of consumption; a
            factitious demand is one created by active exertions
            for the purpose. An unnatural alarm is one greater
            than the occasion requires; a factitious alarm is one
            wrought up with care and effort.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  factitious
       adj : not produced by natural forces; "brokers created a
             factitious demand for stocks"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  27 Moby Thesaurus words for "factitious":
     affected, artificial, assumed, bogus, counterfeit, counterfeited,
     engineered, fabricated, faked, false, falsified, feigned, forced,
     imitation, insincere, man-made, manufactured, mock, pretended,
     rigged, set up, sham, simulated, spurious, synthetic, unauthentic,
     unreal