1
Devise a solution
Create a plan or mechanism ingeniously.
Example
Engineers contrived a temporary pump from spare parts.
contrive
/kənˈtraɪv/ · kuhn-TRYVverb
To devise something through ingenuity, often with an artificial or deceptive quality.
Use contrive when the context supports this precise sense: to devise something through ingenuity, often with an artificial or deceptive quality.
What contrive Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Arrange artificially
Cause an outcome through deliberate manipulation.
Example
The author contrives a meeting that strains credibility.
3
Invent a pretext
Create a false explanation or excuse.
Example
He contrived an illness to avoid the hearing.
Use contrive Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
Engineers contrived a temporary pump from spare parts.
The author contrives a meeting that strains credibility.
He contrived an illness to avoid the hearing.
Precision Matters
Contrive overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
contrive
vs.Means to devise something through ingenuity, often with an artificial or deceptive quality.
fabricate
Means to construct something or invent information, often deceptively.
contrive
vs.Means to devise something through ingenuity, often with an artificial or deceptive quality.
innovative
Means introducing or using new ideas, methods, or materials.
contrive
vs.Means to devise something through ingenuity, often with an artificial or deceptive quality.
scheme
Means a systematic plan, often one that is clever, secretive, or deceptive.
contrive
vs.Means to devise something through ingenuity, often with an artificial or deceptive quality.
infer
Means to reach a conclusion from evidence and reasoning rather than direct statement.
Test contrive in Context
The coincidence is deliberately invented and feels artificial.
1
Reviewers admired the acting but argued that the writer had to ___ an implausible coincidence to reunite the characters.