noun
- A device or control that is very useful for a particular job.
- synonyms: appliance, contraption, convenience, gadget, gizmo, gismo, widget
- The faculty of contriving; inventive skill.
- usage: "his skillful contrivance of answers to every problem"
- An elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade.
- usage: "his testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track"
- An artificial or unnatural or obviously contrived arrangement of details or parts etc..
- usage: "the plot contained too many improbable contrivances to be believable"
- Any improvised arrangement for temporary use.
- synonyms: lash-up
- The act of devising something.
- synonyms: devisal
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). contrivance. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/contrivance/definitions/1213721 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "contrivance" http://smartdefine.org/contrivance/definitions/1213721 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, contrivance, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/contrivance/definitions/1213721>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "contrivance" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/contrivance/definitions/1213721> |