contrived; contriving
1
: to make schemes
contriver
noun
Examples of contrive in a Sentence
The prisoners contrived a way to escape.
He contrived a meeting with the president.
Recent Examples on the Web
Everything about this — and the fact that Gene wants Henry to use the relationship to get himself a gun — feels fatally contrived, to the point that Mamet couldn’t even be bothered to fill it in.
—
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 2 May 2025
This experiment could have gone wrong in any number of ways—by seeming contrived, by seeming disjointed, by imposing on its readers the irksome requirement of tracking which voice is saying what across two continents and the better part of a century.
—Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
Nevertheless, the first should still find an audience in the post-New Year lull, a period which thanks to the success of Netflix’s Harlan Coben adaptations, is fast becoming synonymous with soapy melodrama and contrived twists.
—Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 16 Jan. 2025
But there’s hope too, and however contrived the last scene may feel, there’s poetry in watching someone betting his future on yet another horse.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 13 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contrive
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Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 2 May 2025
This experiment could have gone wrong in any number of ways—by seeming contrived, by seeming disjointed, by imposing on its readers the irksome requirement of tracking which voice is saying what across two continents and the better part of a century.
—Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
Nevertheless, the first should still find an audience in the post-New Year lull, a period which thanks to the success of Netflix’s Harlan Coben adaptations, is fast becoming synonymous with soapy melodrama and contrived twists.
—Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 16 Jan. 2025
But there’s hope too, and however contrived the last scene may feel, there’s poetry in watching someone betting his future on yet another horse.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 13 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contrive
Cite this Entry
“Contrive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contrive. Accessed 8 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
contrive
verb
con·trive
kən-ˈtrīv 
contrived; contriving
1
: plan entry 2 sense 1, plot
contrive a way to escape
2
: to form or make in a skillful or clever way : invent
3
: bring about, manage
contriving to make ends meet
contriver
noun
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