artifacts

noun

plural of artifact
1
as in fossils
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 mementos
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 artifacts On Monday, a German court in Hamburg convicted an unnamed brother and sister of money laundering in a case regarding the unlawful sale of ancient Egyptian artifacts. — News Desk, Artforum, 26 Aug. 2026 The judge ordered the company to file an inventory of the 5,500 artifacts, including when and where each item was salvaged, its current location, and its condition. — Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 26 Aug. 2026 The discovery comes over a decade after researchers first examined the artifacts. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 26 Aug. 2026 The artifacts included eight deformed sickles, one intact sickle, part of a sword blade, ornament fragments, three ingots and two unfinished objects. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 25 Aug. 2026 Visitors will use smartphones to scan codes inside the Icon Park attraction for clues that will help track down five missing artifacts and the story behind the techniques used by Tussaud. — Dewayne Bevil, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 Aug. 2026 Interactive exhibits and some artifacts dating back more than 100 years help detail the conception and transformation of the oldest Black congregation in Delaware. — Ryan Hughes, CBS News, 25 Aug. 2026 And that has raised questions about the safety of the art and artifacts inside. — Rachel Treisman, NPR, 20 Aug. 2026 Archaeological surveys conducted because of Section 106 revealed the underground existence in Andover and North Branford of four eighteenth-century houses and other artifacts. — Jane Montanaro, Hartford Courant, 20 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for artifacts
  1. fossils
  2. mementos
  3. relics
  4. reminders
  5. echoes
  6. remembrances
  7. remnants
  8. corpses
Noun
  • Ruzich is a former newspaper reporter who now sells stones and fossils at Affordable Antiques and More in Naperville.
    — Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2026
  • As paleobotanists, my colleagues and I use plant fossils to identify which species once lived in a place.
    — Regan E. Dunn, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2026
Definition of fossils
Noun
  • After months of waiting, families are finally getting back personal mementos from the former Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
    — Madeleine Wright, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026
  • While the top shelves house Hilderbrand’s own novels (and multiple copies of Hilderbrand’s favorite of her books, 28 Summers), the shelves also hold many of her other favorite books and mementos.
    — Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of mementos
Noun
  • Simonian is believed to have smuggled Egyptian relics to institutions that include the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre Abu Dhabi for a collective sum of $64 million.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 26 Aug. 2026
  • In Freeport, Allen has built the Bahamas Maritime Museum, where relics are cataloged, conserved, and displayed, creating local jobs and drawing tourists.
    — Brett Berk, Robb Report, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of relics
Noun
  • Use notification reminders to receive alerts when the robot starts or completes a task, or when an error occurs.
    — John R. Delaney, PC Magazine, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Many of these recipes will be reminders of recipes served after long summer days at the beach or the lake.
    — Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of reminders
Noun
  • To be sure, there are echoes of Renaissance imagery in some of the photos.
    — Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The echoes were happening much further away from me, while the humidity was less intense given the expanse of the huge facility.
    — Elizabeth Howell, Space.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of echoes
Noun
  • Shania Twain, Eminem, Jack White, Kacey Musgraves, and Carlile’s bandmates in the Highwomen — Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile, and Natalie Hemby — have all posted remembrances.
    — Joseph Hudak, Rolling Stone, 26 Aug. 2026
  • But the alliance held annual vigils in Hong Kong to keep memories alive across the border until authorities banned the public remembrances during the pandemic, citing risks to public health.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of remembrances
Noun
  • At the foot of the gulf, the village of Grimaud is crowned with remnants of a medieval castle, and its winding alleys are adorned with bright bougainvilleas.
    — Lane Nieset, Travel + Leisure, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Flooding from its remnants also caused at least 10 deaths in southern France, the hurricane center reported.
    — Doyle Rice, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of remnants
Noun
  • Homecoming aside, there’s still the Trawler to worry about, a fact we’re reminded of when another victim turns up on a playground, this time with a pentagram carved into his back and fish corpses shoved into his wounds.
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2026
  • And just over a year after that, the Morgans landed back in the news after authorities found 56 decomposing corpses inside another one of their businesses, South Deering’s South Chicago Chapel.
    — Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of corpses

Browse Nearby Words

artifact
artifacts
artifice
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Cite this Entry

“Artifacts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/artifacts. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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