Contrived

How to spell contrived

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce contrived

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does contrived mean?

1. adjectiveDeliberately created or arranged in a way that seems artificial and lacking in spontaneity.
2. verbManaged to bring something about, often by cleverness, planning, or scheming.

Contrived in a sentence

• adjective

  The film's happy ending felt forced and contrived.

• verb

  She contrived to leave the meeting early without anyone noticing.

• adjective

  Critics dismissed the photo as a contrived marketing stunt.

• verb

  The engineers contrived a temporary fix from spare parts.

Where does contrived come from?

Language of origin: French

Contrived is the past form of the verb 'contrive', which entered English in the 1300s as Middle English 'contreven', borrowed from Old French 'controver' meaning 'to find, to discover, to invent or make up'. Behind the French lay a Late Latin verb 'contropare', thought to mean 'to compare' or 'to speak figuratively', built from Latin 'com-' (together) and 'tropus' (a figure of speech), itself taken from Greek 'tropos' meaning 'a turn or manner'. The early English sense was simply 'to devise or invent', but over time it picked up a faintly disapproving shade: something contrived feels invented rather than genuine. As an adjective it now describes anything that seems artificially planned instead of natural, while as a verb it still means to manage or scheme something cleverly. The unusual spelling, with the 'o' of the French stem flattening into the modern 'i', is part of why the second syllable trips writers up.

How the word is built

• con- (intensive/together)
• -trive (from Old French controver: to find, invent)
• -ed (past participle / adjective suffix)