[ UK /kəntɹˈa‍ɪv/ ]
[ US /kənˈtɹaɪv/ ]
VERB
  1. come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or principle) after a mental effort
    excogitate a way to measure the speed of light
  2. make or work out a plan for; devise
    They contrived to murder their boss
    design a new sales strategy
    plan an attack
  3. put or send forth
    She threw the flashlight beam into the corner
    cast a spell
    cast a warm light
    The setting sun threw long shadows
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How To Use contrive In A Sentence

  • The sense of camaraderie was strong and uncontrived. Times, Sunday Times
  • But as if divining his thoughts -- just as they passed through the dining-room door, Euphra looked round at him, almost over Funkelstein's shoulder, and, without putting into her face the least expression discernible by either of the others following, contrived to banish for the time all Hugh's despair, and to convince him that he had nothing to fear from Funkelstein. David Elginbrod
  • She is an uncontrived champion of the Scots language.
  • A poor script with bad dialogue and a cheesy, contrived family crisis doesn't help her much.
  • Stokton, a fishmonger, Thomas Yong, a saddler, and Robert Jakes, a shearman — all of whom had more than once been convicted of perjury, and on that account been struck off inquests — had contrived to get themselves replaced on the panel, and had been the chief movers in the recent actions against the late mayor and other officers of the city. London and the Kingdom - Volume I
  • How could it be that in a situation as artificially contrived as a television studio, you could get this frank and free discussion between two people?
  • Having a definitive result would lessen the chances of teams being able to contrive an outcome but it would not remove the possibility completely. Times, Sunday Times
  • Do not the young men contrive great wealth what of their pack-straps and paddles? CHAPTER 2
  • It is no more than a cleverly crafted lump of inorganic matter; its shape and working parts are contrived to facilitate the intended function: the switching around of the circuitry in clearly defined ways.
  • They're never overly clever with anything that they do, chord progressions and bass lines are hardly contrived.
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