contrive
Use Contrive in a sentence
verb (used with object)
1.
to plan with ingenuity; devise; invent: The author contrived a clever plot.
2.
to bring about or effect by a plan, scheme, or the like; manage: He contrived to gain their votes.
3.
to plot (evil, treachery, etc.).
verb (used without object)
4.
to form designs; plan.
5.
to plot.
00:10
Contrive
is always a great word to know.
So is consul. Does it mean:
| to make impure or unsuitable by contact or mixture with something unclean |
| government official appointed to look after its interests and citizens in another country |
Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English contreven < Middle French contreuv-, tonic stem of controver to devise, invent, Old French: to decide, agree upon < Late Latin contropāre to compare, equivalent to con- con- + *tropāre (> French trouver to find; see trover); development of vowel unclear
1275–1325; Middle English contreven < Middle French contreuv-, tonic stem of controver to devise, invent, Old French: to decide, agree upon < Late Latin contropāre to compare, equivalent to con- con- + *tropāre (> French trouver to find; see trover); development of vowel unclear
Related forms
con·triv·a·ble, adjective
con·triv·er, noun
pre·con·trive, verb, pre·con·trived, pre·con·triv·ing.
un·con·triv·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To contrive
Collins
World English Dictionary
contrive (kənˈtraɪv) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (tr) to manage (something or to do something), esp by means of a trick; engineer: he contrived to make them meet |
| 2. | (tr) to think up or adapt ingeniously or elaborately: he contrived a new mast for the boat |
| 3. | to plot or scheme (treachery, evil, etc) |
| [C14: from Old French controver, from Late Latin contropāre to represent by figures of speech, compare, from Latin com- together + tropus figure of speech, | |
| con'trivable | |
| —adj | |
| con'triver | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
contrive
early 14c., from O.Fr. controver "to find out, contrive, imagine," from V.L. contropare "to compare" (via a figure of speech), from L. com- "with" + tropus "song, musical mode," from Gk. tropos "figure of speech" (see trope). Sense evolution (in French) was from "invent with
ingenuity" to "invent falsely." Related: Contrived (c.1400); contriving (early 14c.); contrivance (1620s).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
They believed in it, and this gave them a dignity that no amount of pomp could contrive.
His delight and intent was to discover the surreal in the real, not to contrive surreal imagery.
Or they can arrive separately at the place where boats are rented, each rent a boat, and then contrive to meet on the water.
In fact, would-be loggers sometimes contrive phoney agricultural schemes purely as an excuse to clear-cut forests.
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