contrive
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
(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)
Related Words
See prepare.
Other Word Forms
- contrivable adjective
- contriver noun
- precontrive verb
- uncontriving adjective
Etymology
Origin of contrive
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English contreven, from Middle French contreuv-, tonic stem of controver “to devise, invent,” Old French: “to decide, agree upon,” from Late Latin contropāre “to compare,” equivalent to con- con- + (unattested) tropāre (becoming French trouver “to find”; trover ); development of vowel unclear
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cooling their heels in a Venetian jail in 1755, Giacomo Casanova and the prisoner in the cell above him contrived one of the more imaginative escapes in the annals of criminology.
They can dominate chunks of a game with their excellence and then contrive to lose that same game with their mental wobbles.
From BBC
Guardiola must still be furious and frustrated at how City were so much in command at half-time with a two-goal advantage, yet somehow contrived to cast aside two points and almost lose all three.
From BBC
But Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said on Saturday: "Contrary to the hype of the contrived media war, structural arrangements for negotiations are progressing."
From Barron's
The language of manifesting your dreams into reality might sound nonsensical or contrived, but to JOP, his magical thinking became his saving grace.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
