contrived
part of speech
adjective (contrived; more contrived); verb form (past of contrive: contrived)
meaning for a pupil
1) (adjective) Seeming false and planned, not natural or believable: «The ending of the film felt contrived». tree →
2) (verb, past of contrive) Managed to do something by being clever or tricky: «She contrived to escape». tree →
3) (verb, past of contrive) Made or invented something cleverly: «They contrived a raft from old barrels». tree →
sense in the lessons
In English lessons and book reviews, «contrived» is a criticism of a plot that relies on unlikely coincidences, or of dialogue that sounds forced. In stories, a clever character «contrives» a plan or a way out. Phrases: «a contrived plot», «a contrived smile», «contrived to», «feel contrived».
examples
- The story's happy ending felt contrived. tree →
- His contrived smile showed he was not really pleased. tree →
- The prisoners contrived a rope from their bedsheets. tree →
- She somehow contrived to finish her homework during breakfast. tree →
- The film's coincidences were so contrived that we laughed. tree →
- Write dialogue that sounds natural, not contrived. tree →
- How they contrived to keep themselves alive is more than I can imagine. tree →
note
As an adjective it is negative: «contrived» = forced, too obviously planned. The verb «contrive» is formal. The noun «contrivance» means a clever device or a trick. Opposite of the adjective: natural, believable, genuine.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «contrived» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.