a. 1. Wanting art, knowledge, or skill; ignorant; unskillful. [ 1913 Webster ] Artless of stars and of the moving sand. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Contrived without skill or art; inartistic. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ] Artless and massy pillars. T. Warton. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. Free from guile, art, craft, or stratagem; characterized by simplicity and sincerity; sincere; guileless; ingenuous; honest; as, an artless mind; an artless tale. [ 1913 Webster ] They were plain, artless men, without the least appearance of enthusiasm or credulity about them. Porteus. [ 1913 Webster ] O, how unlike the complex works of man, Heaven's easy, artless, unencumbered plan! Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ] Syn. -- Simple; unaffected; sincere; undesigning; guileless; unsophisticated; open; frank; candid. [ 1913 Webster ] |