accepted as real or true without proof; "an assumed increase in population"; "the assumed reason for his absence"; "assumptive beliefs"; "his loyalty was taken for granted"
adopted in order to deceive; "an assumed name"; "an assumed cheerfulness"; "a fictitious address"; "fictive sympathy"; "a pretended interest"; "a put-on childish voice"; "sham modesty"
taken as your right without justification; "was hearing evidence in an assumed capacity"; "Congress's arrogated powers over domains hitherto belonging to the states"
defeat by more skillful maneuvering; "The English troops outmaneuvered the Germans"; "My new supervisor knows how to outmaneuver the boss in most situations"
artificially formal; "that artificial humility that her husband hated"; "contrived coyness"; "a stilted letter of acknowledgment"; "when people try to correct their speech they develop a stilted pronunciation"
contrived by art rather than nature; "artificial flowers"; "artificial flavoring"; "an artificial diamond"; "artificial fibers"; "artificial sweeteners"
not arising from natural growth or characterized by vital processes
excessively elaborate or showily expressed; "a writer of empurpled literature"; "many purple passages"; "speech embellished with classical quotations"; "an over-embellished story of the fish that got away"