contrived
obviously planned or forced; artificial; strained: a contrived story.
Origin of contrived
1Other words from contrived
- con·triv·ed·ly [kuhn-trahy-vid-lee], /kənˌtraɪ vɪd li/, adverb
- un·con·trived, adjective
- well-con·trived, adjective
Words Nearby contrived
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use contrived in a sentence
That’s when things got a little more contrived and cartoonish.
I’ve glossed over other exposition issues in a show in which the overall effect is both attenuated and weirdly contrived.
Britney Spears’s songs are packed into a new storybook musical, but this kingdom needs more magic | Peter Marks | December 19, 2021 | Washington PostIn spite of the cameras, producers, and managers, the setting doesn’t feel particularly contrived.
Creating fake sound for drivers who are used to hearing something when they step on the “gas” sounds contrived, because it is.
The new electric BMW i4 is a nimble driving machine—with a cinematic soundtrack | Dan Carney | October 15, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThe plots are even more contrived than what you’d find in the average family sitcom, past or present.
Punky Brewster Is Just the Latest Proof That Today's Kids Deserve Better Than ‘80s and ‘90s Reboots | Judy Berman | February 24, 2021 | Time
Bone was a highly competent managing editor, and contrived somehow to squeeze us into the tumultuous Post office.
The Stacks: H.L. Mencken on the 1904 Baltimore Fire | H.L. Mencken | October 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAgents contrived for one paid federal informant and then another to introduce themselves into his life.
The Loser Who Wanted to Be the ISIS Agent Next Door | Michael Daly | September 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOr, worse, they are contrived to sound tired, perhaps in an attempt to come off as world-weary.
U2 Generously Gives Us a Lousy Album, Sucks at the Corporate Teat | Hampton Stevens | September 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe story is schematic and contrived rather than palpable and lived.
Ian McEwan's New Novel Keeps Life at Arm's Length | Nick Romeo | September 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTGranted, there was something fundamentally contrived about the experience—and not only because I was in Chicago instead of Spain.
Scientists tell us that from the point of view of optics the human eye is a clumsy instrument poorly contrived for its work.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockAnyway there was a lot of embroidery on it, full of little holes, which somehow contrived to be extraordinarily fetching.
Rosemary in Search of a Father | C. N. WilliamsonHer clothes were good and new, but some desolate dressmaker had contrived to invest them with an air of hopeless dowdiness.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. LockeIt was not purposely contrived, it was in automatic obedience to deeper impulses than she knew.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodAs a consequence several varieties of curtains, all involving the use of asbestos, have been contrived.
Asbestos | Robert H. Jones
British Dictionary definitions for contrived
/ (kənˈtraɪvd) /
obviously planned, artificial, or lacking in spontaneity; forced; unnatural
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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