The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - art n.

1) skill, skilfulness, ingenuity, aptitude, talent, artistry, craftsmanship; knowledge, expertise; craft, technique, adroitness, dexterity, Colloq know-how: Little art is required to plant turnips. 2) artistry, artisticness; taste, tastefulness: High art differs from low art in possessing an excess of beauty in addition to its truth. 3) craft, technique, business, profession, skill: The fishermen can't employ their art with much success in so troubled a sea. 4) knack, aptitude, faculty, technique, mastery; dexterity, adroitness: Conversation may be esteemed a gift, not an art. You have acquired the art of insulting people without their realizing it. 5 trickery, craftiness, cunning, wiliness, slyness, guile, deceit, duplicity, artfulness, cleverness, astuteness: You have to admire the art with which she wraps him round her little finger. 6) arts. wiles, schemes, stratagems, artifices, subterfuges, tricks; manoeuvres,: She was expert in the arts which ladies sometimes condescend to employ for captivation.