1
as in gadget
an interesting and often novel device with a practical use
a new contrivance for cleaning computer keyboards
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2
as in invention
something (as a device) created for the first time through the use of the imagination
despite the many modern contrivances for saving time and labor, we seem to have less leisure and energy than ever before
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in imagination
the ability to form mental images of things that either are not physically present or have never been conceived or created by others
in that writer's hands, narrative contrivance can often deteriorate into pointless gimmickry
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of contrivance
This near-calamity really smells of authorial contrivance to get the two principals to meet in person, while further comic hijinks jerry-rigged to drive the couple further together are no less fragrant.
—
Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 20 May 2025
The reader wonders if their mutual faith in hideous cars driven by strangers isn’t a contrivance at all, but a familial trait.
Of the siblings’ many mishaps, the most poetic occurs when they’re forced to swap rental cars after an accident.
—Bobby Finger, New York Times, 13 May 2025
Measuring a president at 100 days is something of a contrivance that is based on a marker set during Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first term back in the 1930s.
—Anthony Salvanto, CBS News, 27 Apr. 2025
This should play as a melodramatic contrivance — along with the possibility that the shooter could be an angry incel teen named David whom Robby saw at the start of his shift.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 21 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contrivance
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contrivance
Noun
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Hosted by editor-at-large David Pierce, the show will take a look each week at the historical implications of a gadget, app, website, or product from consumer technology’s past.—
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Your new router can support it, but most of the gadgets in your house today — laptops, tablets, smart TVs, and game consoles — are still using Wi-Fi 5 or 6.—
Noun
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Out of this mess came the last great invention of the twentieth century.—
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Jacques Cousteau’s 1949 aqualung invention spurred a new era of undersea activity.—
Noun
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Here, on our visit in in June 2024, the silence and emptiness of the place allow the imagination to wander — bringing those warriors back to life and allowing visualization of their mock battles in a place that has changed so little over time.—
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For readers, much of the aesthetic experience of engaging with either artist involves simply attending to this profusion of details, the infinitely diverse offspring of technical excellence and an inexhaustible imagination.—
Noun
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Even with the potential risks, businesses also need to democratize access to AI tools.—
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Seider popped early in his career, making Detroit’s roster as a 20-year-old and showing a mix of offensive production, defensive tools that outran some dodgy five-on-five results and a rare-for-its-time mean streak.—
Noun
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While OpenAI says that scaling is key to driving innovation and future AI breakthroughs, investors and analysts are beginning to raise their eyebrows over the mindboggling sums.—
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Made in Africa is a monthly column by Rolling Stone staff writer Mankaprr Conteh that celebrates and interrogates the lives, concerns, and innovations of cultural workers of the African diaspora from their vantage point.—
Noun
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Upon the closing of the legendary hatch, a virtual hurricane blasted Goldberg inside the contraption, with Stitch gleefully running around its perimeter as Goldberg fished for a card holding the lucky number of one audience member who would ultimately win the trip.—
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The team started by creating a nebulizer, or a contraption where Mahiri can stick her head into what looks like a multi-gallon jug with a large hole cut out of one side and a Tupperware attached to the other, the video shows.—
Noun
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In blending creativity with community, and in each collection and cause, Scott is passing her Texas spirit onward.—
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From streetwear to high fashion, the borough has a reputation for individuality and creativity.—
Cite this Entry
“Contrivance.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contrivance. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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