artifact

noun

Definition of artifactnext
1
as in fossil
an object made by humans and surviving from an earlier time period The site was full of Stone Age artifacts such as flint tools.

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2
as in memento
a lingering indication of something from the past The spelling of "trough" is an artifact of the way it was originally pronounced.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of artifact An experimental artifact is a false or misleading result caused by the experiment itself rather than the phenomenon being studied. — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2026 The focus, according to their proposal, will be on contexts of appropriation, chains of ownership, and the significance of the artifacts to contemporary Cameroon. — Anne Doran, ARTnews.com, 2 Oct. 2026 If an agent creates persistent context or sends derived information downstream, teams should understand how those artifacts can be identified and addressed before that workflow becomes business-critical. — Kobi Nissan, Forbes.com, 2 Oct. 2026 Heyne Kim, Contributor People dressed as museum artifacts have gone viral in South Korea. — Jingnan Peng, Christian Science Monitor, 2 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for artifact
Recent Examples of Synonyms for artifact
  1. fossil
  2. memento
  3. relic
  4. reminder
  5. echo
  6. afterimage
  7. remembrance
  8. remnant
Noun
  • The City of Boulder and Boulder County, Colorado, in 2018 sued major fossil-fuel producers Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy, seeking financial damages under state public nuisance law.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Ozone, which is made up of three oxygen atoms, forms when emissions of other pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides from fossil-fuel burning or wildfires mix with sunlight and heat.
    — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of fossil
Noun
  • Many brought flowers, cards and mementos and placed them in a makeshift memorial near the home.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • There’s no harm in holding on to old photos and other mementos from your bygone days.
    — Barton Goldsmith, AJC.com, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of memento
Noun
  • By 2000, the industry was a relic of an earlier era and on its last legs.
    — Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Yet the name is also a relic — the legacy of Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack, the last of whom passed away nearly 50 years ago.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of relic
Noun
  • Her example is a reminder that meaningful progress often begins with ordinary people choosing to help, participate and lead by example.
    — The Sacramento Bee staff, Sacbee.com, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Her hair is still damp from her post-morning practice shower, a quiet reminder of a routine that refuses to bend.
    — Bella Armstrong, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of reminder
Noun
  • Audiences will no doubt see broad echoes of what could have been in Ali’s passionate and often ruthless Latif.
    — CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Ari struggles to understand how its two worlds connect, and as events in one world echo events in the other, so will many readers.
    — The Week US, TheWeek, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of echo
Noun
  • Those truths come together in a series of ands and buts, which layer upon and contradict each other, like the afterimages of Tullock in Stefania Bulbarella’s video design.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2025
  • That trailing effect isn’t a smear on its own, but their blades also leave afterimages, duplicate smears, along their path through space.
    — Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 19 Aug. 2025
Definition of afterimage
Noun
  • Creel is only the latest Bayside High School Tiger to share kind remembrances of Haskins.
    — Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Sep. 2026
  • We will also be pulled into a collective remembrance of societal traumas that bond us to certain people and alienate us from others.
    — Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of remembrance
Noun
  • Some of the debris swirling in the rotating disk is a remnant from planetary formation.
    — Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The threat of flooding continues Thursday in both Texas and across the Corn Belt, driven by the remnants of Hurricane Polo.
    — Matthew Cappucci, Washington Post, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of remnant

Browse Nearby Words

articulations
artifact
artifacts
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Cite this Entry

“Artifact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/artifact. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on artifact

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about artifact

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