Artificial or imitation may be applied to anything made by human beings in the form of something natural: artificial flowers; imitation wood-grain. Synthetic is synonymous with artificial in this sense, but there is a connotation in synthetic of production by chemical combinations or similar techniques: synthetic rubber. False and ersatz both suggest a substitute made because of the costliness or lack of the original item: false teeth; the proliferation of ersatz goods during periods of war and inflation. False often implies the presenting of a misleading appearance when it refers to a function-masking decorative detail: false drawers that were actually a single door concealing stereo equipment. Ersatz or imitation commonly describes a cheap or inferior copy that can fool no one: bowls of wax fruit, and a dusty collection of ersatz flowers in brass-plated planters.