contrive
to plan with ingenuity; devise; invent: The author contrived a clever plot.
to bring about or effect by a plan, scheme, or the like; manage: He contrived to gain their votes.
to plot (evil, treachery, etc.).
to form designs; plan.
to plot.
Origin of contrive
1synonym study For contrive
Other words for contrive
Other words from contrive
- con·triv·a·ble, adjective
- con·triv·er, noun
- pre·con·trive, verb, pre·con·trived, pre·con·triv·ing.
- un·con·triv·ing, adjective
Words Nearby contrive
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use contrive in a sentence
There was nothing contrived about the celebrations that greeted the news of the President’s intervention.
Tunisia's President Staged What Looks Like a Coup. But Democracy Isn't Dead There Yet | Simon Speakman Cordall / Tunis | July 30, 2021 | TimeMany conversations feel rehearsed, and many gatherings appear contrived to bring characters into conflict.
Netflix’s My Unorthodox Life Is More Bravo Docusoap Than Real-Life Unorthodox | Judy Berman | July 14, 2021 | TimeThis app got me thinking about how contrived all of our units of measurement are, but how they seem to make sense when we apply them to the correct things.
In ancient Sparta, the lawgiver Lycurgus had contrived to make his constitution permanently unamendable.
The Story Behind the Declaration of Independence's Most Memorable Line | Akhil Reed Amar | May 7, 2021 | TimeYet he never met her, even when it would have been easy to contrive an encounter.
Helen Frankenthaler came from wealth and privilege. Her art transcends that. | Philip Kennicott | March 19, 2021 | Washington Post
There are thousands of ways to contrive a weapon that's at least as dangerous a two-inch hobby knife.
TSA Says Yes to Small Knives, Then No—What’s the Problem? | Patrick Smith | April 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTHe must contrive to keep his family alive as he strategizes.
Turning to Tolstoy’s ‘Hadji Murat’ as Boston Locked Down | Liesl Schillinger | April 22, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Republicans contrive new ways every day to get less popular.
That made me think, maybe they can contrive to do something similar on the mandate.
Everybody understands that politicians contrive photo opportunities in which they can perform "care" and "concern."
If any one of the parts should be lost or broken, it would require some ability in that country to contrive a substitute.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickYou generally contrive to make yourself useful to your father in one way or another.
Elsie's Vacation and After Events | Martha FinleyI knew too well that if I took any legal measures, he would contrive to shift the whole burden of lunacy upon me.
The Talking Horse | F. AnsteyThe cabin instantly obeyed them, and they having entered it began to consult how they should contrive to live there.
The Story of Yvashka with the Bear's Ear | AnonymousOur great object was, as the reader will naturally suppose, to contrive some way of escape.
British Dictionary definitions for contrive
/ (kənˈtraɪv) /
(tr) to manage (something or to do something), esp by means of a trick; engineer: he contrived to make them meet
(tr) to think up or adapt ingeniously or elaborately: he contrived a new mast for the boat
to plot or scheme (treachery, evil, etc)
Origin of contrive
1Derived forms of contrive
- contrivable, adjective
- contriver, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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