MEANING
1. To devise or arrange something through planning, skill, or ingenuity.
2. To succeed in doing something despite obstacles, sometimes with an ironic implication.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- contrive a scheme
- contrive an excuse
On the page
She contrived a signal using mirrors from the ruined chapel.
He contrived an excuse to remain after the guests departed.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- contrive
- Past tense
- contrived
- Past participle
- contrived
- Present participle
- contriving
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- contrive
- Present continuous
- am/is/are contriving
- Present perfect
- have/has contrived
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been contriving
- Past
- contrived
- Past continuous
- was/were contriving
- Past perfect
- had contrived
- Past perfect continuous
- had been contriving
- Future
- will contrive
- Future continuous
- will be contriving
- Future perfect
- will have contrived
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been contriving
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: contrive; contrives; contrived; contrived; contriving Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: contrives.
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